Documentary 1917 Identification

Hi, does anyone out there know how to tell the difference between the Scott Illustration Number R22, between the first printing done by Commericial companies, and the printing by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing?

Can singles be distingued?

What are the Pick Up Points (PUP), used? Can the PUP's be readily identified?

Stampmaster

Hi StampMaster,

Thanks! I had no clue what you were talking about, so looked it up. I had never noticed that statement in Scott before!

I look forward to what folks have to say!

Stampmaster,

The BEP added the dots in the circles. It's their "secret mark."

The wording in Scott could have been better.

Type 1 is BEP, which were printed after the type 2 stamps.

As I said, Scott broke up the sentences and reversed the order. Could have done a better job...

Jim

No dots in circles to the left and right of CENTS are the Buffalo printings. BEP added dots to the circles as their "secret mark." On the one cent the dots are very bold. On the other cents denominations they are microdots. Both of these were traditional offset lithography.

Unacknowledged by Scott is an innovation that the BEP pioneered in 1924. Deep etched plates that were used on the offset presses. George Brett wrote about these and called them various terms, but the one that I prefer is letterset printings (a combination of letterpress (the plate has an elevated image) and offset (the type of press on which these stamps were printed)).

The first two are true offset and have crisp edges. The letterset printings tend to have fuzzy images on the outside edges. When too much pressure was present in the press, an extra line of ink appears in the ordinarily white spaces, and is quite evident inside the denomination, the presence of which Brett called "wash." Some people mistake this as a double impression, which it clearly is not. A double impression is completely displaced in one direction. On the letterset printing the doubling on the denomination is inward into the white space, an extra line if you will.

Hi revenuermd, excellent information.

These are on of my favorite revenue stamps! I always like to learn something new everyday, thanks to you have something new to look for.

Outstanding, top drawer!

Stampmaster

I should add that the high etch plates had a much longer printing life and that innovation reduced the number of plates that BEP had to produce. I am working on identifying which stamps were printed by each method, especially on the overprinted categories. For example, I believe that the 25¢ stamp of the Silver Tax and Tobacco Sale Ta stamps were never overprinted on the stamps from high etch plates, or letterset printings. The other cents denominations of the Silver Tax and Tobacco Sale Tax are only present on letterset printings!

The Cigarette Tube stamp RH1 is found on the Buffalo prints, the BEP offset, and the letterset printings. So the specialist will want to collect all three varieties. Happy hunting at the stamp bourses!

Hi Ron,

I did know about the dots.

I guess I did not connect them when StampMaster made his post

One of the advantages of understanding the three different types of 1917 documentary stamps is to apply the dates that they were issued against questionable varieties.

For example, shown below is a scan of what looks like a genuine narcotic overprint on the four cent value.

However, note the fuzziness to the edges that Ron mentioned. Also note the tiny dots in the circles. This makes this stamp a good example of a type 3 Bureau print from 1924 or later.

The genuine narcotic handstamps were used for just a few months, from February 25, 1919, until around the summer.

There is no way that anyone would need to handstamp a four cent documentary stamp five years later; the violet strips had been readily available for many years.

In other words, this overprint couldn't have been applied in 1919, as this documentary variety didn't exist then.

Therefore, this particular narcotic overprint is definitely fake.

Jim

Hi all, I've always considered this R22 series in all its usages, really one of the backbones of collecting revenues. I'm always learning something new about this series. For me a lot of fun, oh and by the way cheap to collect (mostly).

Stampmaster

Jim, you said "Quote:
The letterset printings tend to have fuzzy images on the outside edges. When too much pressure was present in the press, an extra line of ink appears in the ordinarily white spaces, and is quite evident inside the denomination". Cloudy called these "Squash Effect Doubling", have you heard that description?

Stampmaster

Hi

I was just quoting Ron, and no, I haven't heard of that term, but it sounds pretty accurate.

Jim