Scott #568 Or #699 25c Niagara?

I believe this to be the blue - green #568. How can I be sure? Also, any opinion on condition and value? Thank you.

These are pretty easy to determine. Scott 568 is perforate 11 on all sides; Scott 699 is perforate 10.5 x 11. All you need is a perforation gauge to make that determination.

It is best to go by the perforation rather than trying to rely on the color as there is a wide range of shades with both issues.

Having said that, you appear to have the rotary press version, Scott 699, based on the color and what appears to be a slight curling of the stamps, which is more commonly found on the rotary press. Another clue is the lack of any ink offset on the reverse (gum) side of the stamp. Flat plate printings often have light to moderate ink offset as the sheets were stacked right after printing.

These are VF centering, with the right side being slightly larger than the left. The pair also appears to be mint, never hinged.

When checking the perforations on this stamp, don't do as I did many years ago. Thinking that the stamp was either perf 11 or perf 11x10.5, I initially just measured the vertical side ... which was indeed perf 11. Shortly thereafter I discovered that the high denominations in this set are actually perf 10.5x11 while the lower ones are perf 11x10.5. So be sure to measure the horizontal perfs for this particular stamp. You might also look for gum breakers which, for mint stamps, should be obvious on the rotary press issue. Vertical gum breakers for the high values, horizontal for the low. There would be no gum breakers on the flat plate issue.

Thank you for the great information. However, I have no perforation measuring tool. Any way to check that without a tool? Or can anyone use a photo to tell? The holes are not the same space apart. I also can't see anything on the gum, although the lack of ink from a transfer during production does say #699.

For this stamp, you can use a cut and paste program to compare the horizontal perforations with the vertical perforations. If both sides match then they would be 11 x 11 flat plate 568 and if both sides do not match then they would be 10.5 x 11 rotary press 699.

well, that was easy. Cut and Paste in paint confirmed that the horizontal does not line up with the vertical, so clearly #699. Thanks

Are the horizontal lines across the falls a scanner artifact? On Page 142 of The Encyclopedia of Plate Varieties by Loren C. French lists;
"17445-- LL 26 Four parallel lines across bottom of falls, the "bridge over the falls" variety. This pair looks similar.

It's actually not a scan, but a photo. I use a high res camera on a small tripod directly over the object. The actual photos are quite large and detailed. What you see is what is there, just not as detailed due to the 200k requirements.

I searched this stamp on the forum, and there is a post about the lines on the falls. I believe that this is the same, just not as pronounced as the stamp on that other post. That is why I thought this was a #568.

Here are more detailed pictures.

re: lines on falls.
The pair of stamps is rotary press, 699
The "bridge over the falls" variety illustrated by French is flat press, 568.
There is absolutely no connection between the two.

Only one variety listed for 699;
"20540--LR100 -- two long parallel, slightly curved Scratches in the right gutter."