Need Help Verify 482A

Shermack slots? how can one verify they are real

The Schermack slots are undoubtedly real.
However, note the first stamp says "TWO CENTS", thus is the incorrect design for 482A.
For the second stamp, what characteristics have caused you to eliminate 409 or 482?

Krazy,

Take a look at this guide to examining your Schermak type III slots.
http://www.slingshotvenus.com/stamp..._III_doc.pdf

Not the correct type anyway, even if the design was correct..

thank you very much for the info and the link

Krazy,
Now having digested the replies, what catalog numbers do you conclude you have?
And what reference sources are you using to draw upon? (It will help our subsequent replies.)

The first one is either 344 or 384. the second is either 409 or 482, like John stated. 409 is watermarked and 482 isn't. This stamp is type I. 482A has a very pronounced top toga line and button outline. this stamp does not.

The 482A also comes in a very noticeable shade, just like the 500 which is the perf 11 variety of the same design.

Funny this should come up here and now, as I just asked a 482A-related question on FB a few hours ago. May as well post here as well:

A question for the specialists of the group: does anyone have any specific knowledge of the history of Scott #482A? Understand that all of the extant copies are with Schermack type III perfs, but trying to determine the likelihood of there being any which were left imperf. Siegel's census appears to have only privately-perfed examples (intact and trimmed).

Theoretically possible, I know, particularly if culled for a collector before being perfed, but I wonder whether this was even recognized as type 1a until much later, and as such highly unlikely to have been flagged as collectible by itself at the outset.

Appreciate any context.

The 482A/500 was the only real experiment done by the Bureau with the W/F series. They tried to create a transfer roll with 10 impressions (usually therre was only one). The extra speed and pressure required caused them to do some recutting on the original transfer roll they used, which created the new type. They made two plates, but the as far as I am aware, all information from the Bureau records shows that all imperf sheets were sent to Schermack, and all received the type III perforations. Since the Bureau never told anyone anything about their internasl decisions, none of the types of any stamps issued were known to collectors until they were found. Which is why the teens and twenties issues have some rare varieties.

Thanks for that explanation. It would seem then HIGHLY unlikely that there would exist any imperf blocks, though I confess the particular item I examined yesterday (out of an old, highly reputable dealer's stock from 6 decades ago) would otherwise seem to fit the bill. Sending for a cert would surely help clarify the expected adjudication that it is not a 482A, and will recommend that it be done regardless, but the context surely helps. Thank you.

"The 482A/500 was the only real experiment done by the Bureau with the W/F series. "

Surely this statement is incomplete, it needs some qualifiers! Don't you think all the efforts of fighting paper shrinkage, resulting in "star" plates and different spacing of the columns were experiments? Then there were "electrotype" trials, not to mention perforations themselves. you got my drift I think.
(If you meant to restrict to "engraving" experiments, here's homework for the class, what were the other "real" experiments, if any?)

thank you very much for the info and the link

All of these things were changed for specific reasons. Shrinkage was a specific problem. Perf changes wer to solve problems. The perf 12's were too fragile for coils, and used to fall apart. The perf 10's were too stiff, and used to tear poorly, although they worked fine when coils were packaged in cardboard. The perf 11's worked out for sheets. The perf 8.5's were because the first coil machine had that gauge. The larger transfer roll was not done to attempt to solve a particular problem, but was done because someone came up with the idea. That is what I mean by "experiment".