Grantsville, UT Type 841

The current TnT catalog lists two types of Grantsville:

841 - 75c

and

841(3) - 25c

Footnote 3 indicates that there are font variations in "some or all" of the positions within the plate.

OK. But unless you have a complete sheet, there is no way to know which stamp you have. If it has a mixture of fonts, it must be the second kind, but if it looks like a standard 841, surely it could be either?

So why list two types and how is anyone supposed to know which they have, unless they collect complete sheets?

Unless, perhaps, the footnote is a bit too general here: could it be that ALL the stamps on the more common plate have font variations?

But in that case, since I have examined all four of my copies of this precancel, and see no font variation in any of them, I am highly dubious that I have somehow lucked out into only having copies of the more expensive type .....

Keep in mind this type of precancel handstamp has only 10 positions, 5 high and 2 wide and needs to be impressed 10 times to cancel an entire post office pane of 100. So you would be seeking blocks of 10.

(It might be helpful if you could provide illustrations of your copies with your posts. Then if others post their copies, we can collectively compare, etc.)

Add: here is an impression of the Coal City, Indiana precancel made for a collector. It is a type 841 device also, but with no special footnotes in the Town and Type catalog. Note how the "IN" aligns differently to the town name in the upper line from position to position. One could almost "plate" a single stamp to this sample. It gives the idea that the precancel device makers were "getting the job done" but having every position identical was not critical to the functionality of the end product.

I see your point, yes, you would "only" need a block of 10 to be sure that you have one of each plate position and therefore that your block comes from a sheet with no font variations. But how many people collect their precancels in blocks of 10?

Here are my four singles, just for laughs:



The "usual" font variation on UT stamps is a much larger U with a wide curve at the bottom. Others are of course possible, but I don't see anything.

But of course, what my stamps show isn't really my question. My question is why they bother listing two types that virtually no one (if anyone?) has the wherewithal to distinguish between? These stamps are relatively common and cheap. Without a better explanation, it just smacks to me of someone on the "in" who has a block of 10 and wants to be able to call them something special. Which is ....... unhelpful?

I have no Utah precancels to add here, but putting your 4 stamps in chronological order by issue date, the Dorothea Dix is the most recent and stands out from the other three by having thinner top/bottom lines, beyond what I would expect from less ink. I would be comparing it against the other three. It the total length of the town name identical? Etc.

Secondly, I would be patient for a few days beyond the weekend and see what the serious precancel collectors have to add here. This is a holiday weekend and people have families, etc.

A font variation is usually just one or two letters that are in a different font, or sit higher or lower than the other letters, or like your example, are located slightly differently with respect to the other line of print.

There might be a tall thin C instead of a rounded one, etc.

It won't affect the lines (they have different catalog codes for that).

There is nothing font-related here, but maybe someone can indeed pop in and enlighten me on the catalog listing issue.

Thanks!

All differences are shown in the 'Ingram' database on the PSS website (although catalog values have not been updated for the 8th edition T&T)

Yes, I have a copy of the current Town-and-Type catalog and understand it's introductory material. Yes, I understand what a font difference is.

Apparently, the Coal City, IN example did not have positional differences to merit any footnote, or a second similar device. When the highly advanced precancel collectors get a chance to reply, I suspect in the case of your Utah example that a collector visited that PO and found they had two precancel devices catalogable as the same type. And that close examination revealed enough differences to merit two catalog entries. Yes, it is frustrating the catalog does not have enough detail to truly differentiate between them. Again, I would recommend patience.