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Early U.S. Airmail stamps

1918 issue

Scott C1, 6¢, plate number 9155

Scott C2, 16¢, plate number F8900

Scott C2 var, local precancel, plate number F8900

Scott C3, 24¢, red plate number 8492

Scott C3, 24¢, blue plate number 8493

Scott C3 var, 24¢ "fast plane," red plate number 8492

   

Scott C3 var, 24¢ "high and fast plane," blue plate number 8493 and red plate number 8492

Scott C3 var, 24¢ "high plane," red plate number 8492

Scott C3a, 24¢ frame inverted error, blue plate number 8493 T

A plate number single of this stamp does not actually exist. The sole plate block from the unique sheet has been preserved intact. The above image is a mock-up of what a Scott C3a plate single might look like. It was created by a former APNSS Secretary, the late Tom Yano, and was used as an eye-catcher and as part of the APNSS logo for some years.

Scott C3a, 24¢ frame inverted error, blue plate number 8493, photographically cropped from the unique plate block of 4. No red plate number appeared on the original invert sheet.

 

1923 issue

Scott C4, 8¢, plate number 14824

Scott C5, 16¢, plate number 14828

Scott C6, 24¢, plate number 14841

 

1926-27 "Map" issue

Scott C7, 10¢, plate number 18246

Scott C7 var, local precancel, plate number 18247

Scott C8, 15¢, plate number 18746

Scott C9, 20¢, plate number18898

Scott C9 var, 20¢, Plate Number F18892 B. On this plate, the "F" appeared in both the normal Top Right position as well as inverted in the Lower Left position as in this example.

Scott C9 var, 20¢, misperfed due to paper fold, plate number18893

 

1927 Lindbergh issue

Scott C10, 10¢, plate number 18999

Scott C10 var, local precancel, plate number 18998

Scott C10a, 10¢ from booklet pane, plate number 19427

 

1928 Beacon issue

   

Scott C11, 5¢, red plate number 19570 and blue plate number 19546

Scott C11 var, "open door" variety, blue plate number F19666

Scott C11 var, blue vignette shifted to left, red plate number 19701

Scott C11 var, blue vignette shifted to right, blue plate number F19688 (Image courtesy of Bill Langs)

Scott C11 var, blue vignette shifted to top, red plate number 19702

Scott C11 var, blue vignette shifted to bottom, red plate number F19551

Winged Globe issues

Scott C12, 5¢ flat plate issue, plate number 19944

Scott C12 var, 5¢, ghost plate number 20189

Scott C16, 5¢ rotary press issue, plate number 20606

Scott C16 var, 5¢ rotary press issue, ghost plate number 20607

Scott C19, 6¢, plate number 21235

Scott C19 var, local precancel, plate number 21598

Scott C19 var, misperfed vertically, plate number 21234

Scott C17, 8¢, plate number 21030

Scott C17 var, local precancel, plate number 21028

Scott C17 var, 8¢, misperfed horizontally, captured plate number 21031

Scott C24, 30¢, plate number F22384

 

1930 Zeppelin issue

Scott C13, 65¢, plate number 20077

Scott C14, $1.30, plate number 20085

Scott C15, $2.60, plate number 20092

1933 "Baby Zeppelin" issue

Scott C18, 50¢, plate number 21172

 

1935-37 China Clipper issues

Scott C20, 25¢, plate number 21476

Scott C21, 20¢ green, plate number 21626

Scott C21 var, 20¢ dark green, plate number 21623

Scott C22, 50¢, plate number 21625

 

1935 Bi-colored Eagle issue

Scott C23, 6¢ dark blue & carmine, plate numbers F21847 and 21855

Scott C23 var (formerly C23c), 6¢ ultramarine & carmine error, plate number F21948

Scott C23 var, 6¢, local precancel, plate number 21903

Scott C23 var, 6¢, misperfed vertically, plate number 21835

Scott C23 var, 6¢ dark blue & carmine, misperfed horizontally, plate numbers 21921 and F21835

Scott C23 var, 6¢ dark blue & carmine, carmine shifted to top, plate number F21844 (Image courtesy of Bill Langs)

Scott C23 var, 6¢ dark blue & carmine, misperfed due to paper fold, carmine shifted to bottom, plate number F21845

   

Scott C23P var, proof of blue frame, plate number F21838, and of carmine vignette, plate number F21840

Images courtesy of the National Postal Museum

Scott C23a, 6¢ dark blue & carmine, imperforate horizontally error, pair with plate number 21835

 

1941-44 Transport issue

Scott C25, 6¢, plate number 23253

Scott C25 var, misperfed vertically, plate number 23165 (Image courtesy of Stuart Katz)

Scott C25 var, misperfed horizontally (low), plate number 23348 (Image courtesy of Bill Langs)

Scott C25 var, misperfed horizontally (high), plate number 23348 (Image courtesy of eBay / sheetguy2)

Scott C25 var, 6¢, over-inked, plate number 23253

Scott C25a, 6¢, booklet single with partial plate number 22980

Scott C25a, 6¢, misperfed vertically, plate number 22980 (Image courtesy of Doug D'Avino)

A plate number example of C25 with faked R.F. overprint and cancellation is illusted on the AMG-France page.

Scott C26, 8¢, plate number 23128

Scott C26 var, 8¢ local precancel, plate number 23121

Scott C27, 10¢, plate number 22757

Scott C27 var, 10¢ local precancel, plate number 22757

Scott C28, 15¢, plate number 22765

Scott C29, 20¢, plate number 22761

Scott C30, 30¢, plate number 22774

Scott C31, 50¢, plate number 22778

Most airmail stamps that picture an airplane use a real plane. For the "Transport" issue, the plane is a mock-up of various features from different planes and manufacturers. The tri-tail, for example, is borrowed from the Lockheed Constellation.

1945 DC-4 Skymaster

Scott C32, 5¢, Large Skymaster, plate number 23488

Scott C32 var, 5¢, misperfed horizontally, plate number 23487 (Image courtesy of Bill Langs)

Scott C33, 5¢ Small Skymaster, plate number 23586

Scott C33 var, 5¢ Small Skymaster, phantom plate number 23532

Scott C37, 5¢ Small Skymaster coil, partial plate number 23717

Scott C39, 6¢ Small Skymaster, wet printing, plate number 24042

Scott C39 var, 6¢ overinked, plate number 23985 (Image courtesy of Bill Langs)

Scott C39 var, 6¢ misperfed vertically to left, plate number 23985

Scott C39 var, 6¢ misperfed vertically to right, plate number 23974 (Image courtesy of Stuart Katz)

Scott C39 var, misperfed horizontally, also dry printing, plate number 23976 (Image courtesy of Stuart Katz)

Scott C39 var, 6¢ misperfed vertically and horizontally, plate number 24031

Scott C39b, 6¢ Small Skymaster, dry printing, plate number 25340

Scott C39a, 6¢ Small DC-4 Skymaster, single from wet printed booklet pane, plate number 24264

Scott C41, 6¢ Small DC-4 Skymaster coil, plate number 24170

 

1947-49 issues

Scott C34, 10¢ Pan American Union Building, wet printing, plate number 23694

Scott C34, misperfed horizontally, plate number 23693 (Image courtesy of eBay / sheetguy2)

Scott C34a, 10¢ dry printing, plate number 25613

Scott C34 var, 10¢ double paper error, plate number 23693

Scott C35, 15¢ NYC skyline, wet printing, plate number 25940

Scott C35 var, misperfed vertically, captured plate number 24585 (Image courtesy of eBay / sheetguy2)

Scott C35 var, misperfed horizontally, plate number 24505 (Image courtesy of eBay / sheetguy2)

Scott C35 var, 15¢ overinked, plate number 24505

Scott C35 var, 15¢ under-inked, plate number 23685 (Image courtesy of Stuart Katz)

Scott C35b, 15¢ dry printing, plate number 25940

Scott C36, 25¢ Brooklyn Bridge, wet printing, plate number 23668

Scott C36a, 25¢ dry printing, plate number 25615

Scott C38, 5¢ New York City, plate number 23846

Scott C40, 5¢ Alexandria, Virginia, plate number 24088

Scott C40, misperfed vertically, plate number 24088 (Image courtesy of eBay / sheetguy2)

Scott C40 var, under-inked, plate number 24085

Scott C40 var, overinked, plate number 24083

 

1949 U.P.U. issue

Scott C42, 10¢, plate number 24155

Scott C43, 15¢, plate number 24149

Scott C44, 25¢, plate number 24153

1950-1961 issues

1950-1961 issues Scott C45, 6¢ Wright Brothers, plate number 24158

1950-1961 issues Scott C46, 80¢, plate number 24592

1950-1961 issues Scott C46, 80¢, local precancel, plate number 24593

1950-1961 issues Scott C46 var, 80¢, local precancel, plate number 24593

It is possible the local precancel was added long after contemporary usage to create a philatelic curiosity. It is doubtful that the Drummond, Montana post office, serving a population of ~500 at the time, had a major need for 80¢ airmail stamps at all, much less precancels.

1950-1961 issues Scott C47, 6¢, 50th Anniversary of Flight, plate number 24782

1950-1961 issues Scott C48, 4¢ Eagle, plate number 25034

This is the lowest denomination U.S. airmail stamp ever issued. It met the airmail postcard rate.

1950-1961 issues Scott C48 var, 4¢ Eagle, local precancel, plate number 25035

1950-1961 issues Scott C49, 6¢, 50th Anniversary of Air Force, plate number 25762

1950-1961 issues Scott C49 var, 6¢, misperfed due to paper fold, plate number 25762

1950-1961 issues Scott C50, 5¢ Eagle, plate number 26053

1950-1961 issues Scott C50 var, 5¢ Eagle, local precancel, plate number 26052

The multi-colored 8¢ Champions of Liberty stamps issued from 1957 to 1961 were intended to pay an airmail rate. However, there was no specific indication that they were "airmail" stamps, so they were assigned catalog numbers along with regular and commemorative issues. Plate number examples appear on the Four Cent Commemoratives web page.

1950-1961 issues Scott C51, 7¢ sheet, plate number 26178

1950-1961 issues Scott C51 var, misperfed horizontally, plate number 26385 (Image courtesy of Stuart Katz)

1950-1961 issues Scott C51a, 7¢ single from booklet, plate number 26043 (Image courtesy of Doug D'Avino)

1950-1961 issues Scott C52, 7¢ coil, plate number 26055

1950-1961 issues Scott C53, 7¢ Alaska statehood, plate number 26225

1950-1961 issues Scott C54, 7¢ Balloon Jupiter, plate number 26397

1950-1961 issues Scott C54 var, misperfed vertically, plate number 26391

1950-1961 issues Scott C55, 7¢ Hawaii statehood, plate number 26432

1950-1961 issues Scott C56, 10¢ Pan American Games, plate number 26413

1950-1961 issues Scott C56 var, misperfed horizontally, plate number 26413

1950-1961 issues Scott C56 var, misperfed both horizontally and vertically, plate number 26414

1950-1961 issues Scott C57, 10¢ Liberty Bell, plate number 26635

1950-1961 issues

Scott C57 var, misperfed horizontally, plate number 26630 (Image courtesy of Stuart Katz)

1950-1961 issues Scott C58, 15¢ Statue of Liberty Type I with frame, plate number 26486

1950-1961 issues

Scott C58 var, misperfed vertically, plate number 26482 (Image courtesy of Bill Langs)

1950-1961 issues Scott C59, 25¢ Lincoln, plate number 26570

1950-1961 issues Scott C59a, 25¢ Lincoln, tagged, plate number 31604

1950-1961 issues Scott C60, 7¢ Jet (sheet), carmine, plate number 26444

1950-1961 issues Scott C60a, 7¢ Jet (booklet pane of 6), carmine, plate number 26459

Scott C61, 7¢ Jet coil: no image available

1950-1961 issues Scott C62, 13¢ Liberty Bell, plate number 26970

1950-1961 issues Scott C62a, 13¢ Liberty Bell, tagged, plate number 26965

1950-1961 issues Scott C63, 15¢ Statue of Liberty Type II without frame, plate number 28645

1950-1961 issues

Scott C63 var, double perfed vertically, plate number 26878 (Image courtesy of Stuart Katz)

1950-1961 issues   1950-1961 issues

Scott C63 var, misperfed horizontally, captured plate numbers 28033 and 28340 (Images courtesy of eBay / sheetguy2)

1950-1961 issues Scott C63 var, offset with plate number 28033 on reverse

1950-1961 issues

Scott C63b, imperf vertically error, plate number 28340 (Image courtesy of The Philatelic Foundation)

1962-1964 issues

1950-1961 issues Scott C64, 8¢ Jet over Capitol, untagged, plate number 27681

1950-1961 issues Scott C64 var, 8¢ Jet over Capitol, untagged local precancel, plate number 28042

1950-1961 issues Scott C64 var, misperfed vertically, plate number 28423 (Image courtesy of Stuart Katz)

1950-1961 issues Scott C64 var, misperfed due to foldover, plate number 27366 (Image courtesy of Kelleher Auctions)

1950-1961 issues Scott C64 var, 8¢, from a complete pane printed without any plate number ("00000")

Must be collected as a strip of 10 or 20 or full pane of 100 to prove that the plate number does not appear in another corner.

Photographically cropped from a full pane. Image courtesy of The Philatelic Foundation.

1950-1961 issues Scott C64b, 8¢ single from untagged booklet pane, plate number 24375

1950-1961 issues Scott C64b var, tab from untagged booklet pane showing plate number 28115

1950-1961 issues Scott C64a, 8¢ Jet over Capitol, tagged. plate number 27366

The taggant is evident in the selvage.

1950-1961 issues Scott C64c, 8¢ single from tagged booklet pane, plate number 24375

1950-1961 issues Scott C64c var, tab from tagged booklet pane showing plate number 28576

Scott C65, 8¢ Jet over Capitol untagged coil: no image available

Scott C65a, 8¢ Jet over Capitol tagged coil: no image available

1963-1969 issues

1950-1961 issues Scott C66, 8¢ Montgomery Blair, plate number 27466

1950-1961 issues Scott C67, 6¢ Eagle, untagged, plate number 27391

1950-1961 issues Scott C67a, 6¢ Eagle, tagged, plate number 27390 (Image courtesy of The Philatelic Foundation)

1950-1961 issues Scott C68, 8¢ Amelia Earhart, plate number 27548

Amelia Earhart was lost at sea during an around-the-world flight in 1937. At the time this stamp was issued in 1966, she had still not been declared legally dead. Postal regulations prohibit "portraying" a living person on a stamp, thus she is pictured at a distance, in front of her favorite Lockheed Electra, instead of the usual portrait as for most people who are honored with a stamp.

Thomas Edison was still living when a stamp in three formats was issued in 1929 to honor the 50th anniversary of his invention of the electric light bulb. These stamps show how this problem was circumvented in an earlier time.

Current postal regulations require that the honoree be deceased for five years before they can be considered for a stamp, with the exception of presidents. Still, there are many occasions when an event is portrayed (such as landing on the moon) where it is obvious who the person must be, even if they are still alive, as well as numerous instances of photographs, models and other images that include living people being used as the basis for stamps. These occurrences are avidly tracked in the philatelic press.

1950-1961 issues Scott C69, 8¢ Robert H. Goddard, plate number 27860

1950-1961 issues Scott C70, 8¢ Alaska Purchase, plate number 29022

1950-1961 issues Scott C71, 20¢ Audubon, plate number 29096

1950-1961 issues

Scott C71 var, 20¢ Audubon, plate number 29086 with rest of plate number printed on the back of the paper fold

1950-1961 issues Scott C71a, tagging omitted error, plate number 29096 (Image courtesy of Bob Langs)

1950-1961 issues Scott C72, 10¢ Field of 50 stars, plate number 31895

1950-1961 issues Scott C72 var, 10¢ Field of 50 stars precancel, plate number 29494

1950-1961 issues

Scott C72c, Mail Early single from booklet pane of 5, plate number 29564 (Image courtesy of Doug D'Avino)

No plate number examples from the booklet pane of 8, Scott C72b, are known.

1950-1961 issues Scott C73, 10¢ Field of 50 Stars coil, plate number 29501

1950-1961 issues Scott C74, 10¢ Airmail Service, plate number 29673

1950-1961 issues Scott C75, 20¢ USA and Jet, plate number 30510

1950-1961 issues Scott C75 var, 20¢ USA and Jet, plate number 30602, all three colors offset on back

1950-1961 issues Scott C76, 10¢ First Man on the Moon, plate number 31392

1950-1961 issues Scott C76 var, red color shifted to right, yellow color shifted to left, plate number 31387

1950-1961 issues

Scott C76 var, misperfed vertically, plate number 31392 (Image courtesy of eBay / sheetguy2)

1950-1961 issues

Scott C76a, error - red missing from flag patch on astronaut's suit, plate number 31401

1950-1961 issues

Scott C76b, tagging omitted error (unique), plate number 31374 (Image courtesy of William L. Langs)

Related links:

Modern Airmails

Special Delivery issues 

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This page last updated October 2, 2023.