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The Fourth Bureau Series - 1923-26 Rotary Press issues (perf. 10)

Scott 581, 1¢ Franklin, plate number 18731

Scott 581 var, 1¢ Bureau precancel, plate number 16751

Other than a few experimental issues, this is the first issue where the precancellation was done by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing as part of the stamp printing process. The stamps were actually issued as precancels in finished form, rather than individual postmasters arranging for precancels by a local printer.

Scott 581P, 1¢ proof, plate number 15549 (Image courtesy of the National Postal Museum)

Scott 582, 1-1/2¢ Harding (profile), plate number 16951

Scott 582 var, 1-1/2¢ Harding (profile), Bureau precancel, plate number 16838

Scott 583, 2¢ Washington, plate number 18588

Scott 583 var, 2¢ Bureau precancel, plate number 15820

Scott 583 var, 2¢, ink smears, plate number 18587

Scott 583 var, 2¢, over-inked, plate number 17400

Scott 583 var, 2¢, gash in neck variety, plate number 18094

Scott 583a, 2¢, booklet pane, plate number 18705

Scott 583aP var, 2¢, experimental booklet pane, proof plate number 17450 (Image courtesy of U.S. Specialist)

Scott 612, 2¢ Harding, plate number 14866

Some collectors consider the 2¢ Harding as part of, or at least very closely associated with, the Fourth Bureau Series due to the design similarities and the fact that the identical portrait was used for the 1-1/2¢ denomination soon afterward.

For a special study of the 2¢ Harding varieties, check out the Harding page.

Scott 584, 3¢ Lincoln, plate number 17161

Scott 584, 3¢ Bureau precancel, plate number 18439

Scott 585, 4¢ Martha Washington, plate number 16661

Scott 585 var, 4¢ Bureau precancel, plate number 17989

Scott 585 var, 4¢ with plate cracks at UL and in U of UNITED, plate number 17990

Scott 586, 5¢ Teddy Roosevelt, plate number 16670

Scott 586 var, 5¢ Bureau precancel, plate number 18158

Scott 586 var, 5¢ with under-inked Bureau precancel, plate number 17586

Scott 587, 6¢ Garfield, plate number 17589

Scott 587, 6¢ Bureau precancel, plate number 18421

Scott 588, 7¢ McKinley, plate number 17787

Scott 588 var, 7¢ Bureau precancel, plate number 17799

Scott 589, 8¢ Grant, plate number 17833

Scott 589 var, 8¢ Bureau precancel, plate number 18189

Scott 590, 9¢ Jefferson, plate number 18193

Scott 590 var, 9¢ Bureau precancel, plate number 17854

Scott 591, 10¢ Monroe, plate number 16107

Scott 591 var, 10¢ Bureau precancel, plate number 18532

Scott 591 var, misperfed vertically, plate number 17590

1926-34 Rotary Press issues (perf. 11 x 10-1/2)

The experiments with rotary press printing over flat plate, and with finding the optimal perforation gauge for both the long side and the short side of the stamp to give the necessary balance of strength and separability were successful. BEP rapidly converted virtually all production of definitives to rotary presses, and the 11 x 10-1/2 perforation gauge would be the standard for the next fifty years. The rotary 2¢ stamp was issued in 1926, the other 1¢-10¢ denominations in 1927. The re-engraved 2¢, Scott 634A, was issued in 1928, and the half-cent denomination in 1929. The 11¢-50¢ denominations were issued in 1931. Finally, the bright violet 3¢ reprint appeared in 1934, when the first class rate had been raised to three cents.

Scott 653, 1/2¢ Hale, plate number 20925

Scott 653 var, 1/2¢ Bureau precancel, plate number 20408

Scott 653 var, 1/2¢ local precancel, captured plate number 20409

Scott 632, 1¢ Franklin, plate number 21344

Scott 632 var, 1¢ local precancel, plate number 21837

Scott 632 var, 1¢, misperfed vertically, captured plate numbers 19656 and 18957

Scott 632a, 1¢, single from booklet pane, plate number 19561

Scott 633, 1-1/2¢ Harding (profile), plate number 16885

Scott 633 var, 1-1/2¢ Bureau precancel, plate number 18358

Scott 633 var, 1-1/2¢ Bureau precancel, captured plate number 19202

Scott 633 var, 1-1/2¢ Harding (profile), preprint paper fold, plate number 19126

Scott 684, 1-1/2¢ Harding (full-face portrait), 1930 replacement design, plate number 20266

Scott 684 var, 1-1/2¢ Bureau precancel, plate number 20413

Scott 684 var, 1-1/2¢ Bureau precancel, misperfed vertically, captured plate number 21080

Scott 684 var, ink smear, plate number 20259

Scott 684 var, 1-1/2¢ precancel, pre-print paper fold, plate number 21549

Scott 634, 2¢ Type I, plate number 20351

Scott 634 var, 2¢ Type I, Bureau precanccl, plate number 19168

Scott 634, 2¢ Type I from experimental eye plate, plate number 21437

Scott 634 var, 2¢ Type I, local precancels from experimental eye plates, plate numbers 21399, 21679

Scott 634P, proof plate number 21676 Type I from experimental eye plate (Image courtesy of the National Postal Museum)

Scott 634 var, 2¢ Type I, misperfed vertically, captured plate numbers 19912, 19959; plate number 20541

Scott 634 var, 2¢ Type I experimental eye plate, misperfed vertically, captured plate numbers 21417 Type I and II, 21418 Type I, 21423 Type I, 21438 Type I

Scott 634 var, 2¢ Type I, plate number 19956, recut to left of sideburn

Scott 634 var, 2¢ Type I with varnish ink, plate number 19436

Scott 634 var, 2¢ Type I, "Smiling Washington" variety (pos. 21423 UL 23, the right stamp in this example), photographically cropped from a block of 12

Scott 634 var, 2¢ Type I, preprint paper fold, plate number 19401

Scott 634 var, 2¢ Type I, misperfed due to foldover, plate number 19903

Scott 634 var, 2¢ Type I, misperfed due to foldover, attached to fragment of next pane printed in the roll, plate number 19907

Scott 634 var, 2¢ Type I, underinked and imperf printer's waste, plate number 19421

Scott 634b, 2¢ Type I carmine lake, plate number 19665

Scott 634A, 2¢ Type II, re-engraved, plate number 19744

Scott 634A, 2¢ Type II, misperfed horizontally and vertically, plate number 19747 (Image courtesy of Bill Langs)

Scott 634A var, 2¢ Type II, Bureau precancel, plate number 19747

Scott 634d, 2¢ single from miscut booklet pane, plate number 19990

Scott 634e, 2¢ single from carmine lake booklet pane, plate number 19973

Scott 635, 3¢ violet, plate number 21186

Scott 635 var, 3¢ violet Bureau precancel, plate number 19111

Scott 635a, 3¢ bright violet reissue, plate number 21185

Scott 636, 4¢ Martha Washington, plate number 18038

Scott 636 var, 4¢ Martha Washington Bureau precancel, plate number 18082

Scott 685, 4¢ Taft, 1930 replacement design, plate number 20136

Scott 685 var, 4¢ Taft Bureau precancel, plate number 20175

Scott 685 var, 4¢ Taft, NCB perfin (National City Bank?), plate number 20174

Scott 685 var, 4¢ Taft Bureau precancel, captured plate number 20141

Scott 637, 5¢, plate number 18913

Scott 637, 5¢ Bureau precancel, plate number 18158

Scott 637 var, 5¢ dry print, imperf, plate number 18909

Scott 637 var, 5¢ misperfed vertically, captured plate number 18913

Scott 638, 6¢, plate number 18861

Scott 638 var, 6¢ local precancel, plate number 18036

Scott 638 var, 6¢ suspect local precancels, plate number 18029

Precancels were generally created by clamping four 5x5 rubber mats together and overprinting the precancel city over a pane of 100 stamps. It is not clear how that could have been legitimately done with a different font in only the LR position, and with only the bottom row at angle relative to the other precancel positions in such a mat.

Scott 638 var, 6¢ underinked and imperf, possibly printer's waste, plate number 18036

Scott 639, 7¢, plate number 19238

Scott 639 var, 7¢ local precancel, plate number 19238

Scott 639 var, 7¢, misperfed vertically, captured plate number 19236

Scott 640, 8¢, plate number 20128

Scott 640 var, 8¢ local precancel, plate number 18191

Scott 640P, 8¢ proof, plate number 18192 (Image courtesy of the National Postal Museum)

Scott 640 var, 8¢ Grant, photographically cropped from a plate block of printer's waste, imperforate and under-inked, plate number 19263

Scott 641, 9¢, plate number 19353

Scott 641P, proof plate number 18742 (Image courtesy of the National Postal Museum)

Scott 641 var, 9¢ Bureau precancel, plate number 19353

Scott 641 var, 9¢, misperfed horizontally, plate number 19355

Scott 642, 10¢, plate number 19257

Scott 642 var, 10¢, misperfed vertically, plate number 18614 (Image courtesy of Bill Langs)

Scott 642 var, 10¢, misperfed vertically, captured plate number 19255

Scott 642 var, 10¢ Bureau precancel, plate number 18614

Scott 642 var, 10¢ Bureau precancel, misperfed vertically, captured plate number 18848

Scott 692, 11¢, plate number 20534

Scott 692, 11¢ local precancel, plate number 21078

Scott 693, 12¢, plate number 20709

Scott 693 var, 12¢ Bureau precancel, plate number 20543

Scott 693 var, 12¢, imperf horizontally, misperfed vertically, captured plate number 20708 (Image courtesy of Stuart Katz)

Scott 694, 13¢, plate number 20545

Scott 694 var, 13¢ local precancel, plate number 20712

Scott 694 var, 13¢ Bureau precancel, captured plate number 20546

Scott 694P, proof plate number 20545 (Image courtesy of the Smithsonian National Postal Museum)

Scott 695, 14¢, plate number 20549

Scott 695 var, 14¢ Bureau precancel, plate number 20550

Scott 695 var, 14¢, misperfed vertically, captured plate number 20550

Scott 695 var, 14¢ Bureau precancel, captured plate number 20549

Scott 695P, 14¢ proof, plate number 20549 (Image courtesy of the National Postal Museum)

Scott 696, 15¢, plate number 20548

Scott 696 var, 15¢ local precancel, plate number 20548

Scott 696P, 15¢ proof, plate number 20548 (Image courtesy of the National Postal Museum)

Scott 697, 17¢, plate number 20536

Scott 697 var, 17¢ Bureau precancel, plate number 20536

Scott 697 var, 17¢, captured plate number 20535

Scott 698, 20¢, plate number 20537

Scott 698 var, 20¢ Bureau precancel, plate number 20537

Scott 699, 25¢, plate number 20729

Scott 699 var, 25¢ Bureau precancel, plate number 20730

Scott 700, 30¢, plate number 20551

Scott 700 var, 30¢ Bureau precancel, plate number 20552

Scott 701, 50¢, plate number 20553

Scott 701 var, 50¢ Bureau precancel, plate number 20554

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This page last updated April 4, 2026.