2 Cent Washington Imperf Horizontal, Perf 10 Vertical. Coils In Sheet Form?

Hi

Have this block of four identified by prior owner as 539b. I'm questioning this. Maybe Scott has changed numbers in the past. Prior owner also indicated Type III. Scott indicates certain features for this Type like heavy lines in Toga and button. I am not seeing that. I'm thinking this is a Scott 444 block of four from a sheet that just hadn't been cut into coils. The only thing I'm certain about is my uncertainty. Hoping someone can weigh in with an opinion. Coils began as sheets that were then cut into vertical or horizontal coils. Is this what I'm looking at?

Listed in Scott as 540a, type III vertical pair, imperf horizontally. This and Scott 538a were issued because of a misunderstanding about requests by collectors for imperf top margin coil waste examples. At some point in time, the Bureau had switched from imperforate top margins to imperforate bottom margins when perforating coil waste using flat plate perforators that had ten perforating wheels.

It is a long story well documented in the philatelic press.

See Kelleher lots 2936 to 2944:

https://stampauctionnetwork.com/V/v71197.cfm

cfrphoto

Thank you for the information and the link. This block of four had me stumped. This was intentionally produced like this to satisfy collector demand?

Yes. It was listed as a variety of Scott 539 at least thru the late 1930's until the Type II was elevated, pushing the Type III to 540.

craigk

That explains it. I know Scott changed their numbers on certain stamps and figured that was what probably happened here. Don't know how long ago the prior owner assigned the 539b to the back of these stamps. Nice to know approximately when. Thank you.

Checking the library ... 539 was split into 539 and 540 sometime between the 1956 and 1959 catalogs.

John

Thank you. Writing on the back of stamps is something I personally wouldn't do as I believe it damages the stamp. When someone else has already done it I cringe but use it as a starting point for identification anyway. In this particular instance I couldn't agree with the Type III as I'd seen other Washington stamps where the button and toga were much darker. As there was no 539b in Scott I was left to my own devices attempting identification. Not having a horizontal and vertical perf to go on I couldn't see why it might not be a coil stamp still in sheet form. I was way off base from the start. Responses to this thread seem to suggest it is a Type III. Back to the drawing board for me. Still have so much to learn. I've been putting these Washington stamps aside as proper identification requires a detailed knowledge I've yet to acquire. I intend to tackle them in the near future and hope I learn something. Is there a better reference work for them other than Scott? I doubt I'm the only person who finds the prospect of identifying the Types of Washington stamps slightly overwhelming. I find the images in Scott almost useless as the details they reference in the various Types aren't clear enough in the images in their catalog. Comparing Scott to Unitrade I consider the images in Unitrade superior as they actually detail the relevant differences between the various types of stamps listed in their catalog.

There is no doubt. You can take cfrphoto's answer to the bank that you have a "540a, type III vertical pair, imperf horizontally."