Scott 194/? Size Difference

Greetings to all! I trust everyone is in good health. I'd like to discuss the Scott 194 3-cent Washington stamp. It has proven quite challenging to identify, despite my extensive research efforts. Curiously, one aspect that continues to elude me is the size of the stamp. I've noticed that a couple of my 1880 3-cent stamps are slightly larger than the rest. To shed light on this, I've attached a few photos for your perusal. I would greatly appreciate your insights on this matter.

194 is the Special Printing of the 1879 issue. What are you trying to identify?

Hey rafmal. It is completely normal for a stamp to vary in size. If the borders around the design are wide enough, it is considered a "Jumbo" which can add some value to it.

@rogdcam, I am just trying to find out if you guy are aware of the size factor (0,5mm)
is kinda big to be normal
@stephan. a half mm difference is normal?
anyways can you id the please

Are you asking me to ID the Scott #s?
Honestly, it would be a huge help if you could post 1) better quality images
2) both stamps, back and front, in vertical orientation

We have been down this road in other similar posts. The plates were the same across all printing companies. Any size differences always come down to paper.

The paper is moistened before printing. Any size difference can be attributed to variation in paper shrinkage. Durland does not list a plate number for Scott 194, but it is a safe assumption that they did not use a new plate or it would have been recorded in ABNCo records.

rogdcam, wtcrowe: Notice the design is almost the same size, while the overall stamp size is markedly different. So this is not a paper shrinkage effect which would apply to both samp design size and overall stamp size.

These stamps were perforated on line perforators. A lot of things can happen on a line perforator. For example, one (or some) comb pin row(s) can slightly loosen, giving some wiggle room to the preforation placement. So some stamps "get bigger" while other stamps get "smaller". If several sheets were perforated in one operation (I don't know if that happened, it did with the grilling), all hell could break loose.

See this thread for examples of significant dimensional deltas (1.5mm+ due to the size of the stamp) on a US stamp which is known to only have a single plate.
https://goscf.com/t/76973
Don

Edit: I wish that catalog editors and experts who decided to use design dimensions and/or ink colors as identification criteria were the ones who had to address the countless amount of time that people have spent chasing these criteria. Imagine the endless amounts of frustration and disappointment generated over the decades.
Yes, these criteria are certainly good topics for experienced specialists who have invested years of their time needed to become proficient in using these criteria as supplemental evidence. But for the majority of hobbyists, they are often a pitfall stepped in while trying to justify an otherwise faulty identification.

Is there any difference in the east-west image size? Tipzi, a friend, who has posted here in the past, advise me about the 1875 re-prints that he has seen/owned (I know he owned a 180 and some other re-prints but I don't know those numbers) were slightly shorter east-west and slightly taller north-south. I don't know if that applies to all denominations Tipzi passed away in November last year, so I can't get more info. on that. I believe he alluded to the paper grain orientation during printing? With that Info., I was able to get a 124 PF certified. Below are overlays of the 124 on top of a 113 that I sent to the PF with the 124. Tipzi may have meant that only for the 1869 issues, I don't recall if he meant it for all re-prints This is not to meant imply that your three-cent is a re-print, just something else for you to look at.





edited for the 1869 issue comment

to everyone , I want to say thank you for all the input. it really helped and seeing the other size difference . I really appreciate it even though im not totally convinced.
thank you again @ ALL

@ ALE Gator.. yeah I do believe that this is a different stamp as I have plenty of them ,but these 2 are different in size and the image is better quality on them compare to the rest, but I will just hang on to these for now. check out my other post please. on the scott 613.
@ Stephen-P. yes I will gladly post more photos , thank for the assist