Help Identifying Imperf Washington-Franklin

Trying to determine the Scott number and type. Any assistance is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Not helpful at all, but thanks for the response.

Ok, so let's go back to square 1 then.


What book or webpage are you using to try the ID?
What progress have you made?
What have you narrowed it down to?

I think the OP needs to find images which show the differences between the various types of imperf WFs. Where are those type differentiation images shown in stamp smarter revcollector? I could not find them.

The table of WF IDs expects one to know the type as well as watermark, paper and perf gauge (or imperf).

https://stampsmarter.org/1847usa/wa...d32perf.html
https://stampsmarter.org/1847usa/19...ntifier.html
https://stampsmarter.org/1847usa/wa...ankmain.html
https://stampsmarter.org/features/S...rank_ID.html
Don

My best guess is Scott 532, Type IV, based on reviewing the Scott Specialized Catalogue, 1847USA, Stamp Smarter, and Swedish Tiger. The stamp is imperforate, offset, unwatermarked, and seems to have most of the characteristics of a Type IV. Any confirmation, rebuttal, or thoughts are much appreciated.

It is *not* any of the offset printings.

This is clearly an engraved stamp.

I cannot recommend the Identification Guide of U.S. Regular Issue Stamps 1847-1934 by Charles N. Micarelli more strongly for these types of questions. Unfortunately it is not available in digital form. It is worth every penny.

So, on to the stamps. You have a Type I with a weak top toga line. That makes your choices for imperf stamps 409, 482 or 459. The first two are flat plate printed and the last is rotary. 409 and 459 are watermarked (single line) and 482 is without. Based upon the color of your stamps, distinctly rose colored, I go with 482. You can confirm by checking for watermark.

One of the challenges of identifying the Washington/Franklin series is that collectors new to the area often have only a very few examples to work with against the illustrations and descriptions in the catalogs. (I suppose this is true of many stamps, isn't it?)* The best specialized literature is often expensive and not typically the direction a collector new to an area invests in. Why buy a $100 book to possibly find out you have penny-stamps?

I was 16 when I ran headlong into the W/F identification wall with what turned out to be a 534B with Schermack type III perforations. Pretty heady stuff for a kid to find a stamp listing at $150. I had an old-time collector help me through the process and I sent it to be certified. Quite an impatient wait for a kid anticipating his stamp to come back in the mail too. It was an incredible learning experience. I gets easier when you have several dozen or a hundred or more to compare against each other and let the stamps do the first "talking" and the inadequate catalog data can fade into the background. As you get more examples, the offset stamps will soon jump out at you from across the room, whether perforated of imperforate. And the coils will quickly provide you with type II and III examples, etc., etc.

*How many threads do we see with a new collector owning a single copy of a Scott 65 and wanting to know the exact shade - and always hoping for the rare shade type too.

Exactly and well said. That is why works such as Micarelli's are perfect for every level of collector. The latest edition is $40 but any edition will do and for $20 or less you can have a wealth of easy-to-understand information for the first 87 years of US stamps at your fingertips.

I would comment that my point was intended to be more broad than the Micarelli book or its current price. The level of detail beginners seek often goes beyond the simplified listings (or non-listings) in the Scott Specialized catalog. We see it here often when relating to perfins, precancels, postal stationery, postal history, etc., where the cost of the literature or society memberships often far exceeds the value of the item asked about. A person brand new to any area would likely be at square one of the learning curve to identify the appropriate references too. Thus advice to collectors of all levels ... don't skimp on the literature. Regularly set aside a portion of your stamp budget for buying information. It will pay for itself quickly by identifying bargains to snap-up and pitfalls to avoid. It might be an interesting topic for another thread: "What are the 10 most important philatelic references for a U.S. collector? (and where to get them cheap or free)"

Of course most important is totally dependent on the specific areas of collecting involved.

All good points. I single out Micarelli because it deals very well with Washington-Franklins which a) is the topic of this post and b) account for a large number of inquiries.

I think that a significant number of collectors are casual collectors who might have, as John mentioned, only a few copies of a stamp to compare against. I have little idea if I have any 'less common' varieties in my 'fun' worldwide collection; when I am no longer around someone else can have fun going through the 180,000 stamps looking for them.

From what I have seen, the majority of casual collectors would rather spend money on more stamps then spend money on costly reference books.
Don