Scott 1058 . Small Holes Vs. Large Holes

I have a conundrum ... something that does not seem to appear in the Scott US Specialized catalogue. For Scott 1058 (4-cent Liberty Series Lincoln coil), the catalogue lists both small & large holes. But the large holes supposedly only appear on 1058b, the precanceled version. I have pairs of both 1058 (small holes) & 1058b (large holes). But I also have a 1058 pair (no precancel) that seems to have large holes. Will show all 3 pairs below. Let me know what you think.
Added: My Scott is a 2025 ... one possibility is that the large hole entry for 1058 got omitted in this version. Unfortunately, I did not keep my old catalogue. A second possibility is that there is more variability in the small hole size for this issue than I would expect.

There has been discussion that large and small hole varieties exist as in the Liberty Series. While there are variations in the hole size, it has to do with the speed of the web or sharpness of the pins, creating holes of different sizes. They are not a separate variety.

See page 3:

https://www.usstamps.org/wp-content...e-No.-16.pdf

I have a 2021 Scott US Specialized Catalog. The main listing for 1058 says "large holes, dry printing". The small hole variety is listed below that and is not numbered. The entry for 1058b says "large holes, wet printing". So it appears that large holes exist on non-precanceled stamps as long as they are dry printings.

That 1998 reference is now out of date due to better understanding of process.

Could you explain the updated understanding of the process in order to bring this topic up to date?

philatomic: The 3rd pair (apparent large hole without precancel) is a dry printed pair. The large hole listing for 1058 is missing in my 2025 Scott. Now the question is whether the omission is deliberate or accidental. I would vote for the latter. Thanks!!

Alas, my brain source, Tony Wawrukiewicz, has passed. Additionally, I have not been that heavy into Liberties to concern myself with the great detail involved. That said, after 1998, reports and understanding expanded regarding the large and small hole issue along with our understanding of wet/dry printing and experimental booklet paper used on non-booklet material. While I have published a number of articles over the years on postal history of Liberty Issues I have not focused on the coils.

I suggest this as a starting point: https://www.usstamps.org/download/r...-checklists/ from which you can expand as well as dig into the details.

JLLebbert, I have a 2025 US Specialized and found errors in the Liberty sections which I would describe as proofreading errors. They did not exist in prior edition of which II have 2022, 2021 and before. I did not buy 2023 nor 2024. Judging by my discovered other errors which Scott corrected when notified most are unintentional and proofreading related such a sudden added zero to the price of a 1909 FDC from one year to the next.

I suggest this as a starting point: ... from which you can expand as well as dig into the details.
Maybe you should add to your posts that downloads from the USSS website are members only...

I found information that brings clarity to the "how" of different hole sizes. Thank you to PPG for sending me to look. If Scott added something to their catalog like the below explanation from Linn's it would be helpful.




https://www.linns.com/news/us-stamp...on-hole-size

rogdcam: Thanks for the followup research on PPG's post.

I will say for this thread, Thank you rogdcam for the quote and link posted as well as trusting I actually pointed in a good direction. I am not at all surprised what you pulled from Lnn's came from John Hotchner. While I did not have memory of the source I knew the production caused hole sizes were well defined once explored post 1998.

Let me add a quote from my link (USSS) which is quite revealing as to why the difference between Scott and what you have in hand JLLebert:




Emphasis added by me, but the point is there are far, far more varieties than can be fit into the Liberty Coil lists in the Scott US Specialized.

My 2021 US Specialized has this note just before the first Liberty coil, Scott 1054.

My 2025 Scott has the same note as philatomic's 2021.
Wish I had seen it earlier, but I was focused on the Lincoln coil. Upon examining online 1058 offerings, I find the large hole variety to be quite common. It thus appears that my primary difficulty was the missing entry for the large hole 1058 that did appear in the 2021 Scott. Of course, assuming that PPG's info is correct, there are numerous sins of omission in the current catalogue. Some, like the 1058, appear to be mistakes ... others would seem to be due to indifference and/or ignorance. I suspect most collectors ignore coil hole size ... especially if it isn't listed in Scott.

JLLebbert,

This is what the listing for 1058 looks like in the 2021 US Specialized (as well as earlier versions that I have). Don't know why Scott would have changed it other than in error.

Philatomic,
The 2025 listing is virtually identical with the following exceptions:
(1) the top line for 1058 reads "small" rather than large;
(2) the "small holes" line as well as the two subsequent lines are missing;
(3) the "On cover" catalogue value for 1058b reads "250.00" instead of "2.50".

With the exception of (3) above, even the catalogue values are identical.
Will print off a copy of your entry and place it in my 2025 edition. Thanks for the help!

Mentions of "1998" in these posts are confusing. Specialists were not "ignorant" before 1998 of Cottrell printing changes in the late 1950s, and large hole, small hole varieties were listed in Scott by then. (I'm looking at a Brookman 1998 printed retail price catalog, 250pgs dated 1998, and they're listing prices for the Liberty series coils hole-size varieties, too.)
What has come up in recent years (two decades now) is the realization that a rare few Presidential coils AND Washington-Franklin coils were produced with "small holes" and those certified (i.e., identified to satisfaction of Scott editors) are also listed in Scott specialized catalog.
Reference to speed of paper web through production or worn peforating pins and the like, in the literature are concerning coil examples of one type "appearing" as the other.

Edit: "Cottrell printing changes" is referring not just to press proper (e.g., plate layout), but changes in downstream perforating equipment used (usually related).