Another US Washington Image A140 Help Question

This came to me as Scott 487 TYPE II. On the back it's also marked as Sc 449 TYPE I. I think it's Sc 450, which is a TYPE III. help appreciated.

Type III.

Short answer, both you and your stamp are correct, in a way. Your stamp has an ID placed on it in the 1950s or earlier.

Long answer, through the 1956 Specialized catalog, Scott 449 included the type III as the major # and the type I as a minor number under it. I do not have the 1957 catalog, but by 1958 they had been split into 449 and 450:
Here is 1956 vs 1958:



Similarly for Scott 487 which had the type III as the major number and the type II as a minor number under it. Again, it had been split into two major numbers between 1956 and 1958.
Here is 1956 vs 1958:



So the obvious answer is that your stamp was *correctly* ID'd both times, a long time ago and now as a type III stamp, either (then) as a 449 or 487, but today would be a 450 or 488, depending on the watermark.

A scan of the reverse side would be an interesting addition to this thread.

I should be able to look at a 1957 edition tomorrow.

Thank you both. Here you go - I should have posted these earlier. I dont see a watermark. But, honestly, I have a small but growing stack of Washington's that are suppose to be either Wmk 190 or 191 and I dont see ANY!! Going to re-re-visit them tomorrow I think.

In general, if a W/F stamp is only known with a watermark and you can't find one, it is almost certainly a single line watermark stamp. There were very few positions where a DL watermark would not show up, but more where an SL would not show. Have to go with the balance of probabilities.

Yep - excellent point. Thats the view I was taking - but - I just soaked the handful I have just to help. It's good practice in trying to spot the Wmk - at least for me as im new to these. I have maybe 6 I just did and it seemed a bit odd that I wasnt spotting anything. But im no expert and going to take one more look at 'em.

Double line-watermarks are not directly relevant here.
The difference is single-line (450) or unwatermarked (488) on the Type III coils.

I also find it helpful to know what "orientation" to look for, i.e., which way are the letters running. With the perf-vertical coils the individual letters of the watermark are on their sides as noted in this recent thread:
https://goscf.com/t/88037&whichpage=1

With the perf-horizontal coils like yours, the individual letters of the watermark are upright. Here is a #450 with a nice "P", upright although upside down:




That said, I do not see any watermark on your stamp, although as noted, the single-lines are tricky to see and even trickier to scan/photograph. The odds lean strongly toward a 488.

Back of stamp upward, front of stamp on glass - dish. Top of head to top of dish - scanner. When looking at stamp normally, I flipped to right to put It face down.

The 1957 specialized listed 449 as the type I and 450 as the type III.

Thanks for the follow up. Appreciate the balance of probabilities.

Switching gears, but still on Image A140, I have the below which is marked as Sc 481. 3 questions - I dont think its flat plate - yes / no? On flat plates I should see some ink on the rear?? I think it's Sc 531 which is offset printed. Also, the rectangular cut outs on the right side I see as described in Scott Specialized as being described under Electric Eye perforating being 1st used in 1933 if im reading it correctly. So were the rectangular cut out used to hold sheets which were imperf also? What are they called - the cut outs?

These can be found in the back of Scott catalog under "Vending & Affixing machine perforations"

These are called "Schermack" Perforations and your stamp is a Schermack type III.

The slots are "Schermack type III" vending and affixing machine perforations applied privately to an imperforate stamp, in this case an offset-printed Scott 531.
These are listed in a back section of the Scott U.S. Specialized catalog. Do you have a copy?

Add: LOL, when you get two simultaneous and near-identical responses!!

481 is also an imperforate 1 cent stamp, some of which also have these same private perforations added, but was made by a different printing method.

Ahhh, I've seen them before. But only maybe once or twice and never in the flesh. Got it. Tks! for the help....

Thanks John - assuming it's the catalog I mentioned in the post - Scott Specialized Catalog of United States Stamps & Covers - is the one I have. Just didnt know what they were. Only seen them once or twice and never the flesh. Tks!