1922 Flat Plate Imperforate issues
Continuing a practice that began with the 1902-03 series, the Post
Office provided imperforate sheet stamps to coil manufacturers.
Scott
575, 1¢ Franklin, plate number
14159
Scott
575 var, 1¢ Franklin, Bureau precancel, plate number
14159

Scott
575 var, 1¢ Franklin, coil leader with Schermack Type III private perforations, plate number
14158

Scott
575 var, 1¢ Franklin, Schermack Type III private perforations from pane before slicing into coil strips, plate number
F14159
Scott
576, 1-1/2¢ Harding profile, plate number
16870
Scott
576, 1-1/2¢ Harding profile, Bureau precancel, plate number
16863
Scott
577, 2¢, plate number
14179

Scott
577 var, 2¢ Washington, Schermack Type III private perforations from pane before slicing into coil strips, plate number
F14197
Scott
611, 2¢ Harding, plate number
15027
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.
1922 Coil issues
The Post Office also issued its own coil stamps. The plate
numbers were trimmed away during the printing and coiling process. Occasionally, the cutting process was sufficiently off-center that some
portion of the plate number is still visible.
Rotary Press
Horizontal Coil issues (perf. 10 vertically)
Scott
597, 1¢ Franklin,
partial plate
number 19759
Scott
597 var, 1¢ Bureau precancel,
partial plate
number 19759 (with star)
Scott
598, 1-1/2¢ Harding (profile), partial plate
number 16909
Scott
598 var, 1-1/2¢ Harding (profile)
precancel,
partial plate
number 18821
Scott
686, 1-1/2¢ Harding (full-face), partial plate
number 20389
Scott
686 var, 1-1/2¢ Bureau precancel, partial plate
number 20388
Scott
599, 2¢ Washinton Type I, partial
plate number 20001 at bottom
Scott
599, 2¢ Washington Type I, partial
plate number 20349 at top
Scott
599 var, 2¢ Washington Type I, Bureau precancel, partial
plate number 18040 at top
Scott
599A, 2¢ Washington Type
II, partial plate
number 19749
Scott
600, 3¢ Lincoln, partial plate
number 18808
Scott
600 var, 3¢ Bureau precancel, partial plate
number 17909
Scott
687, 4¢ Taft,
partial plate
number 20135
Scott
602, 5¢ Teddy Roosevelt,
partial plate
number 16443
Scott
602 var, 5¢ Bureau precancel, partial plate
number 17946
Scott
723, 6¢ Garfield,
partial plate
number 20968
Scott
603, 10¢ Monroe, partial plate
number 16340
Rotary Press
Endwise or Vertical Coil issues (perf. 10 horizontally)
Scott
604, 1¢,
partial plate
number 20357
Scott
606, 2¢, partial plate
number 19153
1923-26 Regular issue - rotary press coil waste
Stamps left over from the printing of 1¢ and 2¢ coils were perforated
on the remaining two sides and sold to the public.
Scott
578, 1¢, perf. 11 x 10, plate number 14573
Scott
579, 2¢, perf. 11 x 10, plate number 14342
Scott
595, 2¢, perf. 11, plate number 14126
No plate number example is known of Scott 594, the 1¢ perf 11 coil waste issue.
1927 Imperforate Harding (rotary
press)
The post office issued imperforate stamps for vending machine
companies. These companies pasted them together in strips and
privately perforated them (such as Schermack type III, with the oblongs), thus
making coil rolls. The coils were then used to affix the stamps by
machine to business mail. When one company ran out of the imperforate flat
plate 1-1/2¢ Hardings (Scott 576) and requested more, the post office,
which by then was no longer printing flat plate stamps, sent imperforate
rotary press stamps instead, seeing no difference. The rotary stamps
were in smaller sheets, doubling the cutting and pasting work for the
private company, but the gutters on the rotary press sheets threw off the
perforations. At around the same time, Pitney-Bowes was authorized
to use meters. The combination of problems and the new competition ruined the
private vending and affixing industry, and
imperforate stamps have not been intentionally issued since except for
the Farleys, occasional souvenir sheets, and the "die cutting omitted" experiment with press sheets in the early 2000's. Background information courtesy of
Lawrence H. Cohen
Scott
631, 1-1/2¢,
plate number 18413
1928 "Molly Pitcher" overprint
In an effort to save money in designing and engraving, in a couple of
instances the post office decided to overprint the common 2¢ and 5¢
definitives, Scott 634 and 637, to provide a quick "commemorative" stamp. The "Molly
Pitcher" stamp was supposed to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the
1778 Revolutionary battle of Monmouth, New Jersey.
Scott
646, 2¢, plate number
19071, with a particularly runny overprint
Scott
646 var, local precancel, plate number
19070
1928 Hawaii overprints
The "Hawaii" overprints commemorate the 150th anniversary of the
1778 European discovery of Hawaii by Captain Cook. Britain's Union Jack is part of the Hawaii state flag in commemoration of this event.
Scott
647, 2¢, plate number
18983
Scott
647 var, overprint high and to the left, plate number
18984
Image courtesy of Bill Langs
Scott
647 var, 2¢, dirty overprint mat, plate number
19055
Scott
648, 5¢, plate number
18907
1928 Canal Zone overprints
Denominations from 1/2¢ to $1.00 were overprinted for use in the Canal Zone. Two overprint types were used on flat plate issues, plus a handful of rotary press issues. See examples at the Canal Zone page.
1929 Kansas-Nebraska overprints
Denominations from 1¢ to 10¢ were overprinted for use in two states which had experienced a lot of postal robberies. The idea was to make the stolen stamps harder to re-sell in other states. It was not successful, and was not expanded to additional states. Despite the overprints, the stamps were valid for mailings throughout the United States. See examples at the Kansas-Nebraska page.
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This page last updated August 10, 2020.
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