Is The Stamp On This Postcard Sc# 314 - And What Is Up With This Stamp Anyway?

Hello Everyone,

I have recently acquired a bunch of older postcards with and without postage. I am going through the postcards with stamps and postmarks, it seems to me that I should identify the stamps first, then try to figure out the value of the postcards somehow so I can put them up for sale. I have found a couple of covers also, maybe FDC's not sure.

Here is the postcard in question tonight:




Anyway, this one has me concerned because I believe that SC#314 A115 1c blue green is rare?? I went by the date on the postmark and the date of issue. Also, the stamp is not centered well at all, I am wondering if this stamp has any value as a freak or oddity? Maybe it is just a poor job at making a stamp - would like to know for sure one way or the other for my own peace of mind.

Anything that anyone can tell me about this stamp would be much appreciated. As for the postcard, it is a picture of a church made entirely out of one tree in Santa Rosa, Ca. That must have been one heck of a tree, and I am wondering what kind of tree it was, I suppose I will have to look that up next - off I go to do that...

Thank you for any help you can give me, Julie

That would be Church of One Tree. Redwood of course.

The stamp on your card is a Scott 300.

Yes RedwoodRandy, according to what I just read the redwood was 245 ft tall and was milled in Guerneville. It is a beautiful church.

Thank you John Becker, can you give me some hint as to how you know this is 300 instead of 314? The post mark on the card is for 1908 which is when 314 was issued, also 300 was issued from 1902-03, how can you tell the difference??? Thank you for identifying it, but I would like to know how to tell the difference also, if possible.

Thank you, Julie

314 is imperforate

300 is the fully perforated format - your copy above has a natural straight edge at the bottom from the edge of the pane. This was a workhorse stamp until Scott 331 appears in very late 1908 and is often seen used several years later.

To clarify your "1902-03" confusion. The series of definitive of Scott 300-313 were first released during 1902 and 1903, but were in regular use for many years until replaced by the Washington/Franklins in the 1908-09 timespan.

Thank you so much John Becker, for answering my questions - I did see in the Scott that it said "Imperf" over the right column on the 314 - that always confuses me because I have a hard time envisioning a single imperforate stamp being sold all by itself. This particular stamp on the postcard has a straight edge along the bottom and the image of Franklin is misaligned with the square of the stamp - there is a small part of the edge of the next stamp on the top of the perf line on the upper edge of the stamp, that is why I was asking if the stamp is a freak or oddity - or is it just a bad job at making a stamp?

Thank you so very much for answering my questions, I don't want to be rude by asking all the questions but don't know of any other way of learning this stuff. I appreciate that you have answered my questions - thank you Mr. John Becker - thank you very much :) Julie

Julie, it is quite common for a stamp from this era, It is somewhat mis-perforated. It is also imperf on one side - also normal. These stamps where printed in a large sheet and then cut into four panes. You can find the explanation in the front of the Scott catalog.
Anyway, stamps with one or two sides unperforated are quite common. Hope this helps,

Peter

Peter said:




Thank you so much Peter, your answer helps, it explains the straight edge, I will see if I can locate something about this in the back of the book.

In the meantime, what is really bothering me about this stamp is that the top edge is perforated, but the perfs are green because they cut into the design of the neighboring stamp and the top edge measures 3 millimeters on my ruler, while the bottom edge measures 0 millimeters, quite a discrepancy between the two edges.

That is why I was wondering if this stamp was a freak or oddity, but frankly - the more I think about it I have seen stamps like this also from Spain where I have seen horribly mis-aligned stamps - I suppose accidents happen and some of them just come out this way? I am thinking there is probably nothing notable about the mis-alignment. Thank you so much Peter, for answering my question! Julie

Julie, it is not in the back of the book. It is in the very front!
And the stamps are not mis-aligned, the are just mis-perforated. There is a big difference.

Peter

Hi Peter, Thank you for correcting me, I was thinking I need to read the section where they describe making the stamps, a topic that does not sound too exciting to me so I have not read it yet, and yes, you are correct, I did see that in the very front of the book, don't know why I said the back earlier, guess I wasn't fully awake yet.

SO, my big question now is what is the difference between being mis-aligned and mis-perforated? It seems to me if a stamp is mis-aligned it will come out mis-perforate, while I cannot think of why a stamp would not be perforated in the right place, as this one is not, without being mis-aligned. I don't know if you can explain this to me, but would sure appreciate it if you could try - I do appreciate that you have answered so far, thank you so much! Julie

Julie, if something is mis-aligned during printing it is usually caught and discarded. After printing the sheets are cut. If anything goes wrong here it is mostly in the cutting - you get a mis-cut stamp. If after printing the stamps are not perforated correctly it is called mis-perforated.
If a stamp is not perforated correctly because of a mis-alignment of the perforator the stamp is still not mis-aligneed.

Peter

Thank you so much Peter for explaining it to me, it does make sense - I did not think earlier of the cutting process, and I can see very well how that could wind up causeing a mis-perforate stamp. I so much appreciate your willingness to go into this with me, thank you very much, I will still be reading the front of the book, but your explanation really helps me envision what is going on, thank you, Julie