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 Scott C13, Plate number single 20079R APNSS is organized to support stamp collectors interested in plate number singles and other marginal markings. A plate number is the serial number of a printing plate. It is printed in the selvage or border of a pane of postage stamps. From the early days of U.S. stamps, plate numbers generally appeared in the middle of the selvage. For example, plate number 20079 appears on the right selvage of the 65¢ Graf Zeppelin stamp shown above. Beginning with rotary press stamp printings in the 1930s, plate numbers were generally printed in the corner of each pane. Plate number 22206 appears in the selvage of the 50¢ Taft stamp from an upper left pane, shown below. Identical stamps from the upper right, lower left and lower right panes would make up a complete matched set of all positions for this issue.
From 1966-1981, the post office often printed a separate plate number for each color that was used in the printing process. Some collectors felt that this often required a large investment, as these issues were traditionally collected in plate blocks of 10, 12 or 20 stamps or even the entire pane. Plate number single collectors collect these issues in strips or as singles.
Scott 1698b, 13¢ Olympics error (no perforations), showing 5-digit plate numbers for each color used in the printing process. Beginning in 1981, the post office started reducing the now 5-digit plate number to a single digit for each issue, generally starting with 1. Multiple plates used to print multiple colors could now be represented by single digits in each ink color used, such as 1111.
Scott 2544A, $10.75 Express Mail stamp, Plate #P11111 showing a single digit for each color used in the printing process. Plate numbers also began to be printed on the face of coil stamps, introducing a whole new collecting interest. Previously, plate numbers were trimmed away from coil stamps as part of the printing and coiling process. (Some examples of partial plate numbers appearing on poorly-centered older coil stamps can be found on the Examples pages.)
Scott 2607, 23¢ First Class Presort stamp, Plate #1111 showing a single digit for each color used in the printing process. At the same time, printing contracts were opened up so that private security printers could bid on and print U.S. stamps. (Virtually all U.S. stamps from 1894 to the 1980s were printed by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing or BEP, a division of the U.S. Treasury Department.) A letter prefix was added to the plate number to designate the private firm. A, B, D, G, K, M, P, S, U and V have been used to date, as well as T on some BEP-printed test coils. The American Plate Number Single Society was formally organized in 1976, although it traces its beginnings to 1952. APNSS originally got its start as an organization for collectors of postally used plate number singles. APNSS joined the APS as Affiliate #178 in 1988. Currently, 39% of our members collect mint (or unused) plate number singles, 27% prefer used PNS, and the remaining 34% collect both mint and used. [2005 statistics] Stated another way, 73% of our membership collect mint PNS, and 61% collect used PNS. Some APNSS members also collect other marginal markings, such as singles with ZIP, copyright, and pane position markings, logos, siderographers' or plate finishers' initials, TOP markings, denomination aids and other markings. Click here for a glossary of plate number-related stamp terms.
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This page last updated August 3, 2006.
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