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Month: December 2020

Rare As Rocking Horse Manure: A Legit East Coast Late-Date Part Perf Usage!

Rare As Rocking Horse Manure: A Legit East Coast Late-Date Part Perf Usage!

Normally, part perf and imperf usages later than early-to-mid-1864 set off alarm bells for possible shenanigans as they were virtually all used up by that point. The major exception are the Late Date West Coast imperfs and part perfs. I’ve written about those before. Genuine imperfs and part perfs can be found with California, Oregon, and Washington cancels as late as 1870. The East Coast is a different matter entirely. By the mid-1860s, virtually all imperfs and part perfs were…

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One Of My Favorite Revenue Stamps – The R19A With “Sewing Machine” Perforations

One Of My Favorite Revenue Stamps – The R19A With “Sewing Machine” Perforations

Every now and then I become enamored with a certain stamp type or cancel type, whether I find it aesthetically pleasing, interesting, or I feel the catalogue value doesn’t accurately reflect its actual scarcity. The “sewing machine perforated” stamps of the 2nd issue (R112c, R115c, R120a) get all of the attention as they are the sewing machine perfs most commonly seen in the marketplace (R120a notwithstanding, as it is the most scarce of all of the Scott-listed sewing machine perf…

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A Cornucopia Of Auxiliary Postal Markings!

A Cornucopia Of Auxiliary Postal Markings!

This cover showed up in Eric Jackson’s most recent auction. I was interested in it as it’s the first RB30 (4-cent proprietary battleship) I’ve seen used illegally/improperly as postage on cover. It’s slightly out of period, so I didn’t think it would go that high, but boy was I wrong. A battle ensued and I ended up bidding more than 3 times what I originally expected to in order to win it. *wince* But as they say, if it’s something…

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US Scott # R152A/B (1875-1878 2-Cent Blue Liberty) Plate Varieties

US Scott # R152A/B (1875-1878 2-Cent Blue Liberty) Plate Varieties

I recently purchased a small bulk lot of common U.S. revenue stamps on eBay, and in it there were about 1000 Scott # R152a and R152b (no R152c sadly), and decided to use it as an opportunity to do some flyspecking. I’ve not seen any definitive references to plate varieties on R152; it wasn’t included in the Shift Hunter Letters. There have been a couple of brief articles in The American Revenuer, showcased below. For each stamp I show an…

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