Is This A 26A - It Kind Of Looks Like One

I don't trust myself on these. Anyone able to confirm or deny if this is a type IV?

Hi RLSNY --

YES -- definitely a type IV Scott #26A.

Look at the compressed scan of your stamp (attached below) -- and you can see the bends in the side FL's which were recut by hand "stamp-by-stamp" -- unlike the type III's that were recut with a straight edge guide in one fell swoop from the top of the pane to the bottom.

Unfortunately, I do not have enough confirmed reference material to plate your stamp -- but I am very confident that based on the bends in the side FL's, it is a type IV Scott #26A -- so has to be from either plate 10 or 11.

One word of caution -- there are 2 plates that are "hybrid" plates -- more specifically plate 9 and plate 15 -- where TCC started off by recutting the side FL's by hand on a "stamp-by-stamp" basis -- but midway through that very labor intensive recutting process switched to using a straight edge guide -- and recut all side FL's in one fell swoop from top to bottom on the entire plate (which is one of the reasons why we see so many doubled up FL's from those two plates). That said, I see no evidence of any recutting on your stamp done by a straight edge -- again -- reconfirming that it is a type IV -- Scott #26A.

Regards // ioaoga

Thanks for the detailed info. That will help in this going forward.