R145 Double Transfer

The 2017 Scott Specialized catalog values a normal R145 at $45, and one with a double transfer at only $57.50.

Based on this modest 28 percent premium, one would expect that this variety can be readily found, and most revenue stamp collectors have multiple copies of it.

With no disrespect to Scott, but I doubt that this is the case. For example, there are none shown on Dan's website (http://www.revenue-collector.com/pl...ties.shtml), and none on Eric's website.

Shown below is at least one of the double transfers, this one in the top letters.

So, some questions: does anyone have a similar double transfer on R145 (or one somewhere else on the stamp), and if you agree that this variety is far more uncommon than Scott's value would suggest, what value would you assign to it? Hundreds? Or replace with a dash maybe?

Jim

This is the DT on the $2 plate. It occurs in the same location on the second issue $2 as well. My experience is that the second issue is a bit more common, but both are fairly scarce (probably only one position). Except for a few classics and some really obvious DT's, most double transfers of both postage and revenues do not catalog much. Because of this most never get auctioned except as large lots, so the prices never change much. Most postage dealers ignore catalog prices and charge as much as they think they can get for them, while with revenue dealers it depends on the specific stamp in question. I consider this to be about a $100-$125 stamp, but others might value it differently.

Are those silk fibers in the paper?

Yes, this issue was on Willcox Chameleon Paper, which is a silk paper.

It is thick, soft, and very porous. A very poor paper, actually.

It should be noted that the purpose of using this type of paper was that the fibers would change color if the paper was treated with chemicals, thus the "chameleon" name.

Below is a portion of Willcox's patent.

Jim

Inasmuch as the documentary taxes ended in about a year, there wasn't really a fair test to see how effective it would have been. Although the proprietary stamps on this paper were used for several years, cleaning and reusing them was almost impossible because of the way they were used. Plus the printed and handstamp cancels were often used for both advertising and theft prevention and so were difficult or impossible to remove.

Most of the Scott catalog values on DTs and other plate varieties do not correspond with real-world scarcity. Additionally, as base values have crept up over the last several decades, values of multiples and varieties have not also been increased at the same rate, so the premiums over base value now are much less than they were 10-20 years ago.