The Age Old Scott 544 Question.

I came across some old postcards that were set to my great-grandmother between 1915 and the 1940s. I went through to read them and then went to cross check the stamps and two stood out. I am a hobby stamp collector with just enough knowledge to know when I need help.

Both stamps were dated in 1923. One from Boston to Vermont, and the other from Vermont to Boston. One of them was from her supervisor demanding a letter with a full confession of whatever it was that she did in Vermont the weekend prior as a young 24 year old secretary. :)

They both look to be 19mm wide, and just over 22mm tall. And they both look to be 11 perf with the tool, but this is not my most confident subject so I am asking for help.


Stamp 1: June 28, 1923 Cancel.








Stamp 2: September 16, 1923 Cancel.






Thanks everybody.

Your pictures show stamp #1 at 22mm top to bottom and the #2 stamp slightly less that 22mm. #544 must measures 22-1/2 mm. top to bottom.

Looks like a 498.

Great photos, but what Al E. Gator wrote, sorry.

Thank you. I'd rather the truth. I didn't see any measurements listed for 498 so I wasn't sure. You guys are the best. Thanks for the fast replies.

Very interesting contents!

On a tangent...
The majority of mail is posted with the most common stamps, thus if there is any monetary value, it may be in the other "postal history" aspects. This includes the sender, recipient, postmark, evidence of handling/mishandling, etc., etc. The postcards themselves can have value too. For family items, the value is often only sentimental. And lastly, the Antiques Roadshow mantra applies that "everything is condition, condition, condition"

For the cancels, the attractive "flag" cancel on the first card was used in Lyndonville from 1911-1931, thus very common and retails in the $1 range.

The second card also has an interesting cancel similar to the one below). In 1920 Boston numbered their stations and nearby suburbs with a "Zone Number" to help in sorting mail. Roxbury was assigned #19. This is one of the earliest forerunners of the modern Zip Codes in the US with 02119 still being in the Roxbury area. Retail is a dollar or two for mailpieces in nice condition.

That is cool to know. I didn't realize that was how zip codes started. Thanks for the info.

one more thing, about measuring Perforation Gauges ... Re-check OFTEN how aligned the stamp is, they "move" all the time esp. against slick plastic surface!
The 2nd 1c image, with the right side is being measured as "perf 11" (Washington is Facing UP, stamp laying on its right side), LOOK HOW SLANTED the green frame line is, to the Left black gauge line! It has to be aligned top-to-bottom to get more accurate gauge measured !!**

(I've repeated that image here so no question which one I'm referring to, but other images show a little tilting from true "up & down" also.)
**-- this assumes perforations were squared up with the stamp frames (designs), true 99.99% of time.

It helps a lot to center your marks on the holes.