Seeking Interesting Or Amusing Placeholders For 1850-S Five And Ten Cent Stamps?

Good day!

I'm at the point where I have almost all of the empty spaces in the main run of US stamps in my album filled in some manner or another, and I want to fill thos spots! (The blank spaces are Scott numbers: 12, 27, 28, 29, 31, and 32.) (Back of book is another matter entirely, and where I am focusing my efforts at the moment.)

Here is the problem, essentially:


(Also US Scott number 12)

I suspect that it's going to be a while until I can find any example, regardless of condition, at a price that I care to justify. With just six blank spaces, I'm excited about the possibility of filling them in some way or another. As a result, I'm looking for suggestions as to amusing placeholders.

How do I define amusing? Here are some examples:


(For 703)


(For 667, a Kansas overprint. Possibly hit with a letter opener.)


(For 678, a Nebraska overprint. My album calls for an example of the stamp in question, officially overprinted "Nebr". This stamp meets that qualification.)


(For 293, from the 1898 Trans-Mississippi Exposition.)

Some of these are from the time when my absolute upper limit was $2 a stamp. I created narratives to justify using them, and that was part of the fun. I could easily replace them, but I find more fun in the stories that I made up for them than in having the actual stamp.

Others are simply financially out of reach.

Thus we come to the 1850s five cent Jefferson and ten cent Washington stamps. The big question and point of all this:

What stamps have you seen that would make amusing placeholders for them?

Many thanks,
Christopher

I like your Kans/Nebr overprints. That's great.

Clever on the Nebraska overprint!

Why don't you just cut up some auction catalogs and stick the images in? You could print the rare stamps you are missing off of Siegel's Power Search as well or get a hold of a Century Stamp catalog for free.

The 703 is indeed clever. Although I would say I am in the camp that any space filler should actually be the correct stamp. The Kansas/Nebraska not-matching fillers would be too distracting for me.

There's a clever fantasy replica of #292 with the black bull missing, you can find it on ebay.

Thank you all!

Phillystamper -
I didn't know about that one - it's so fun - thank you for introducing me to it. I think that I may take it one step further, and note that the entire stamp was lost in the storm!

Today's amusing placeholder:



499 / 505 pair, presumably once imperf between perf, with most of 505 having been trimmed off.

Is there any way to show that the portion of the stamp on the right isn't 505? Not that I am going to try, or that anyone would be convinced with so little of the stamp present, but just out of curiosity.

a single from a booklet of 499, slightly miscut.

-John Becker

Well, yes, a more reasonable person than I might see it that way.

-Christopher

But why not see it for what it actually is?

For me, there's a certain joy in coming up with a backstory behind the stamps that I use in places where I cannot afford the actual stamp. It's part of the fun of the hobby for me.

Elsewhere on this site, I would acknowledge it for what it is, of course.

Many early stamps have near-identical versions with different perforations or other silly differences that are much less expensive. Check the face-similar listings at the front of the U.S. Scott catalogue. When there's a $50 version and a nearly identical $5000 version, the choice is easy for me. I get two of the cheaper one and note that in the album beneath the "more expensive" stamp -- just in case I think I used to be rich. Collecting to completion would bankrupt most people, so you just do your best.