USA Sd1 Special Delivery

I think its a 1894 E4 SD1- 10 cent, perf 12
Curious about the perfs on the right side and the Red X



*** Moved by Staff to a more appropriate forum. ***

I would compare this to a SD1 before you go any further...

Thanks Casey
SD1

Text of "... at a special..." (SD1 and only E-1) verses "...at any special..." for all other runners.

Right side perfs just not well punched leaving chad still attached.

Red ink manuscript "x" could be a cancellation or an indication by the SD messenger that special delivery service has been attempted thus the fee claimed in spite of success of the attempt. The fee purchased one attempt.

[Hey, I only type so fast and hit post when the phone rang , then came back to finish .]

What is the red X and why are the perfs like that?

Red X..Unknown

Perforations : "Blind Perfs"
Caused by either blunt perforation pins, or, multiple sheets placed in the perforator, indicating "too many" for the machine.

Interest point.
One of the first perforation jobs in New Zealand, staff were getting paid "per piece"

Others could not work out why they were making so much money,
It was because they were doing exactly that, putting multiple sheets through at each press.

PS: The punctured confetti, still hanging on, are called "chads"

Got ya
that's where the bonnets the employees used to ware to came in handy
Silly question could it have been perforated twice?
I know it's perf 12

But in person upclose there doesn't look like it's a torn off



And it's kind of odd that all the other perfs are blunt
So when I originally tried to check the perfs I was doing here

I don't believe the "x" is red but rather it is old fountain pen ink that has changed over time.

That's definitely Possible






wouldn't a pen leave some sort of tell tale
Like an impression?


Here's the best image I could get to show the perforations on the outside (not on the chads)

Perfs don't really matter in this case, because it can only be an E1, and they only came with one perforation type. It wasn't until almost 30 years later that they changed to a different gauge. You have plenty of other condition issues without thinking of detracting due to the blind perfs. There are the short perfs at top, the rounded corners and the tear at bottom that affect value much more than the hanging chads. It looks like it has a pretty heavy hinge on the back, so I'd certainly soak it clean before checking for thins...

Thanks billsey
But not really interested in the value of it
More interested in if I'm using the gauge right :)

When using the perf gauge that you have, assume the black dots on the gauge are where the perforation pins would be and place the black dots where the holes are.

Thanks wkusau,
I thought that's how it worked :)
What set of holes should I be reading? (Blue or red)

In this particular case you would align with your red line or "the bottom of your hole", not the "tip".

While this is not rocket science, I was amazed that after searching for tutorials on using a perf gauge I found no standardized explanation amongst commercial sites. To be fair there are different gauges and different markings. To the novice though it can become confusing.

I thought that of all people the APS would have a tutorial video but when I looked the link was missing or never there in the first place.

Both lines are bottoms not tips?
Yellow would be the tips?

The red line is closer to the tips. The yellow line is at the bottom of the hole of the adjoining stamp.