!930s Tractor Traler Presort Stamp

Happy New Year,
I have a few 1930s Tractor Trailer presort coil stamps.
I'm trying to determine if one is SC#2458. The stamp has a green background with black lettering "Additional Presort Postage Paid".
I have not found a listing for this stamp with a green background.
Thank you for your time,
George125

Hi George125 and welcome to the forum. If your stamp has a green background it is probably from soaking off a greenish cover. You can always post a scan of this stamp just to make sure

Peter

George125, the difference is 2457 has a creme colored background and 2458 has a white background, otherwise they are identical. They are easily told apart when you have one of each side by side. Any green background would likely be from soaking as Peter said.

I also believe that mint tractor trailers can be identified by the gum type. Scott doesn't mention the gum type for either 2457 or 2458 ... so I would assume that only one gum type occurs for each. In my experience, 2457 has dull gum whereas 2458 has low gloss gum.

GrandpaJohn,
Thank you for your reply. I have SC#2457.
JLLebert,
Thank you for your reply also. This stamp is used as it is attached to an envelope but not cancelled so haha I will not be checking the gum

An interesting side note. I see in the US Spec(2018) that it says the precancel printing is in gray on the 2457 and in black on the 2458. Must be ~real~ dark gray as both of mine appear to be black<sigh>. Thank goodness for the creme/white paper background!

From one Grandpa John to another ... I agree that the precancel printing appears black on both 2457 & 2458. The white background of 2458 does seem to make the precancel printing stand out a bit more, perhaps making the letters appear somewhat blacker.

Speaking of 2457-2458, does anyone happen to know if the red "First Class" placed vertically on the left stamp below is of any significance?




Thanks,

Al

Al, the "First Class" was a privately applied 'overprint'. As the service indicator states, these stamps could be used for different purposes. The post office allowed the actual use to be printed either on or next to the stamp. The "first class" indicator comes in many different shapes and colors. At the time of mailing any additional postage would have to be remitted.
Needless to say, these stamps were not particularly popular with precancel users.

Peter

Thanks Peter!

Of the 10 or 15 of these I have, this is the only one showing that. Just curious - at least I can say I learned 'something' today!



Al

Al, these are by no means very common. Problem is how to tell if they are genuine when mint or if they are makework,

Peter

Interesting indeed! Another amusing thing to look for as I flyspeck the series. Are you saying that the First Class overprint may have been added to the stamp but the stamp never used (in some cases)? Why would an outfit do that?

GrandpaJohn, correct. Some of these were obtained by collectors. I myself have gone to a ( local ) user of precancelled stamps and asked if I could obtain some. This used to be very common in the early days of pnc's, especially when they were still overprinted ith the two bars. Back then gap collecting was popular, and that was one way to find rare gaps.

Peter

Lol, a precanceled precancel, now ain't that a kick in the head! My gut tells me there may well be a lot of fakes of this type, but hey, I'll be on the lookout. A page of 'fakes' of the Transpo series would be really slick to put together.

GrandpaJohn, just to clarify. The USPO does not call the basic stamp a precancel. And the "overprint" on it ( first class ) is technically also not a precancel, but a "service indicator",

Peter