Newbie question: Postage due & special delivery stamps

Hi everyone. I'm fairly new to collecting stamps, and I was wondering if
there was any "easy" way to tell the difference between the "common"
variety and the more valuable early versions of Postage due and Special
Delivery stamps. I have the Scott 2000 specialized, but I'm afraid I just
don't see any way to tell the difference.

Thank you so much for any info!

"bakntime" wrote in message
.. .
Hi everyone. I'm fairly new to collecting stamps, and I was wondering if
there was any "easy" way to tell the difference between the "common"
variety and the more valuable early versions of Postage due and Special
Delivery stamps. I have the Scott 2000 specialized, but I'm afraid I just
don't see any way to tell the difference.

For which country?

Frank

From: "Frank Emanuel"
Organization: Bell Sympatico
Reply-To: "Frank Emanuel" femanuel(at)sympatico(dot)ca
Newsgroups: rec.collecting.stamps.discuss
Date: Sun, 28 Sep 2003 21:07:07 -0400
Subject: Newbie question: Postage due & special delivery stamps


"bakntime" wrote in message
.. .
Hi everyone. I'm fairly new to collecting stamps, and I was wondering if
there was any "easy" way to tell the difference between the "common"
variety and the more valuable early versions of Postage due and Special
Delivery stamps. I have the Scott 2000 specialized, but I'm afraid I just
don't see any way to tell the difference.

For which country?

Frank

Since the poster mentions the Scott Specialized catalogue, I assume he/she
is discussing U.S.stamps. Does Scott published any other specialized
catalogues? I'm not aware of any....

But we still need a lot more information. There are various lookalike
special delivery and postage due stamp; we at least need to know the designs
in question. I think the poster just isn't used to reding stamp catalogues,
since I am not aware of any ambiguities in these issues.

Bob

"Bob Ingraham" wrote in message
...
From: "Frank Emanuel"
Organization: Bell Sympatico
Reply-To: "Frank Emanuel" femanuel(at)sympatico(dot)ca
Newsgroups: rec.collecting.stamps.discuss
Date: Sun, 28 Sep 2003 21:07:07 -0400
Subject: Newbie question: Postage due & special delivery stamps


"bakntime" wrote in message
.. .
Hi everyone. I'm fairly new to collecting stamps, and I was wondering
if
there was any "easy" way to tell the difference between the "common"
variety and the more valuable early versions of Postage due and Special
Delivery stamps. I have the Scott 2000 specialized, but I'm afraid I
just
don't see any way to tell the difference.

For which country?

Frank

Since the poster mentions the Scott Specialized catalogue, I assume he/she
is discussing U.S.stamps. Does Scott published any other specialized
catalogues? I'm not aware of any....

But we still need a lot more information. There are various lookalike
special delivery and postage due stamp; we at least need to know the
designs
in question. I think the poster just isn't used to reding stamp
catalogues,
since I am not aware of any ambiguities in these issues.

Bob

What about J1, J15,J22 for the 1 cent first issue postage due.
The second issue postage due (1894-1917) has a number of varieties.I've been
collecting US stamps for over 40 years and still find the US the hardest
country to distinguish the watermarks.
Among Special Deliveries, the varities mostly seem to involve perforations,
which are easier to deal with (e.g. E9, E11), but the distinction between
E9 and E10 again involves the watyermark.
I think the newbie has a valid point. I still find Scott's US Specialized
difficult to deal to use.

Bob Ingraham wrote:
From: "Frank Emanuel"
Organization: Bell Sympatico
Reply-To: "Frank Emanuel" femanuel(at)sympatico(dot)ca
Newsgroups: rec.collecting.stamps.discuss
Date: Sun, 28 Sep 2003 21:07:07 -0400
Subject: Newbie question: Postage due & special delivery stamps


"bakntime" wrote in message
...

Hi everyone. I'm fairly new to collecting stamps, and I was wondering if
there was any "easy" way to tell the difference between the "common"
variety and the more valuable early versions of Postage due and Special
Delivery stamps. I have the Scott 2000 specialized, but I'm afraid I just
don't see any way to tell the difference.

For which country?

Frank

Since the poster mentions the Scott Specialized catalogue, I assume he/she
is discussing U.S.stamps. Does Scott published any other specialized
catalogues? I'm not aware of any....

Actually, there is the "Scott Classic Specialized", covering world-wide
stamps up to around 1940.

[snip]

Hey, sorry for the limited info everyone... Here's more details...

They're US stamps. The ones I'm talking about are from 1930-31, Scott J69-
J78 which were issued in 1930 using flat plate printing and the later
rotary press issues of J79-J87. The Scott Specialized Catalogue (of US
stamps & covers) says that the design is the same, but the values of the
flat plate issues are much higher than the later rotary issues.

The only difference I can tell is that the rotary issues are 19mm x 22.5mm,
while the earlier ones are 19mm x 20mm. (This is due to the way they are
printed, right?) And also the rotary ones are listed as "scarlet" in color
while the flat plates are listed as "carmine"...

It's basically that same deal with the Special Delivery stamps... The only
difference is color and the extra 1/2 mm.

Without anything to compare to, I can't really tell color differences, and
I'm not so sure I can accurately measure a 1/2 a millimeter.

I guess my question is how to tell the difference (if there is an "easy"
way...) Thanks!

"bakntime" wrote in message
. ..
Hey, sorry for the limited info everyone... Here's more details...

They're US stamps. The ones I'm talking about are from 1930-31, Scott
J69-
J78 which were issued in 1930 using flat plate printing and the later
rotary press issues of J79-J87. The Scott Specialized Catalogue (of US
stamps & covers) says that the design is the same, but the values of the
flat plate issues are much higher than the later rotary issues.

The only difference I can tell is that the rotary issues are 19mm x
22.5mm,
while the earlier ones are 19mm x 20mm. (This is due to the way they are
printed, right?) And also the rotary ones are listed as "scarlet" in
color
while the flat plates are listed as "carmine"...

It's basically that same deal with the Special Delivery stamps... The only
difference is color and the extra 1/2 mm.

Without anything to compare to, I can't really tell color differences, and
I'm not so sure I can accurately measure a 1/2 a millimeter.

I guess my question is how to tell the difference (if there is an "easy"
way...) Thanks!

A good "hint" about flat and rotary press issues. Stamps produced on flat
plates are usually very flat with no curl. Stamps produced on rotary presses
are usually
curled to a certain extent. Good examples of rotary stamps are most of the
US
3 cent commemoratives. Notice the curl of the stamp. For flat plate you have
to go back to certain issues that were printed only on flat plates to have
an example. Once you have seen examples of both it becomes easier to
identify them. The above was about mint stamps. For used stamps that have
been pressed long and hard some times lose their curl. But still the final
determining factor is always measuring size and perfs. Once you have worked
with them a lot it becomes reasonably easy to determine whether flat or
rotary. Good cheap stamps to have as a guide are both versions of Scott 737,
the 3 cent Whistler's Mother commemorative. I hope that this will help a
little.

Happy stamping
Jim McCain

"bakntime" wrote in message
. ..

snip

Without anything to compare to, I can't really tell color differences, and
I'm not so sure I can accurately measure a 1/2 a millimeter.

I guess my question is how to tell the difference (if there is an "easy"
way...) Thanks!


The color differences can be a pain to figure out. And while 1/2 millimeter
may be difficult to measure, too, I would recommend buying the Linn's
multi-gauge, which is terrific for checking minor variations in
perforations, and also has a millimeter edge which is very useful for many
determinations which rely on this measurement.

If you haven't seen what it looks like, you can check out this link:

http://www.mcphilatelics.com/supplie...ultigauge.html

(Note: I happened to pick this one at random and by posting the link I am
neither promoting nor not promoting the seller.)

Mike

Thanks Jim & Mike. I figured as much as far as needing a definite
reference to compare and perhaps a multigage. I just wanted to make sure I
wasn't missing an "obvious" difference.

I'm learning

-Vito (bakntime)