Book Wine Stamp Perf 12 Vs 12.5

Hello SCF, the 2017 Scott specialized catalogue added two wine stamp perf verities this year RE107E and RE107F the perf 12-1/2 of RE107C and RE107D. My question is there any way to tell the difference between the two based on serial numbers or other information as I have a hard time seeing half of a perf per 20mm.

Hi revenueman. I do not quite understand the question. The difference between 12 and 12.5 should be easily detectable with a perforation gauge?

Peter

The perf 12 ½ was the work of the Rosback perforator that produced the well known Scott 536, the one cent offset postage stamp. One way of identifying the perf 12 ½ varieties of the $50 and $100 book wine stamps would be to compare the perforations to an example of 536. Only the $50 and $100 stamps were produced after 1938 and that is when the Roebuck perforator was used. So these are the higher serial numbers. My best guess is that serial numbers higher than 18000 on the $50 denomination were all perf 12 ½. Similarly serial numbers over 40001 for the $100 were all perf 12 ½.

The perf 12 ½ stamps are much more common than the Kiusalas perf 12-67 (actually closer to perf 11 ¾). I estimated that only 5000 of the $50 were produced perf 12-67 and during the period when I was actively exhibiting the wine stamps I recorded only 8 in collections (I recorded 21 of the perf 12 ½ in collections).

Similarly I estimated that only 27,000 of the $100 were produced and at the time I recorded only 9 in collections (I recorded 78 of the perf 12 ½ in collections).

I would guess that an updated census on the perf 12-67 stamps would not differ markedly from my figures. However, I would guess that the $100 perf 12 ½ census today is significantly higher.

As you may guess from my previous post I was one of the people who urged the listing of the two perforation varieties. I first wrote about these perforation varieties in The American Philatelist in 1983!

There were two different Rosback perforators involved:

Stroke perforator for Kiusalas 12-67=11.75
http://www.rosbackcompany.com/images/Foot_Perf.jpg
https://www.google.ca/patents/US387543

Rotary perforator for Kiusalas 12.5-63=12.50
http://www.rosbackcompany.com/images/pony_perf.jpg
https://www.google.ca/patents/US1127092

Were the perf. 12.5 wine stamps from 1938?
When were the perf. 12.5 red bottle stamps from?

Rosback pins are smaller than the standard Bureau 12-66 perforation pins.

It seems most likely that the perf 12.5 book wine stamps ($50 and $100) were produced in 1936. The question of perf 12.5 distilled spirits red bottle stamps (both Series of 1934 and Series of 1934-A (i.e., with added I.R. district and sheet numbers)) were produced at least in 1934 and 1935.