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SET VI - Perf 10 - Flat Plate Single-line Watermark of 1914
The Post Office had been using perforated 12 stamps for nearly 50 years, but with the introduction of vending machines, clean separation of stamps took on a new
importance. The more perforations per two centimeters, meaning the higher the number of the perforation, the easier it is to tear the stamps apart. Perf 12 made it too easy to separate the stamps; the stamps were breaking apart inside the vending machines. An earlier attempt to solve this problem had been made using an 8.5 gauge perforation. This proved too large a gap between perforations, making the stamps difficult to tear apart without tearing the stamp itself, thus in 1914 it was decided to try an intermediate perforation with 10 holes per 2 centimeters (perf 10) for both the regular issues and the coil stamps.
As in the previous set, the 1¢ through 7¢ stamps listed as Scott numbers 424 through 430, used the Washington head, and the eight cent through one dollar issue listed as Scott numbers 431 through 440 and 460, used the Franklin head. As with the perf 12 stamp of Set V, Scott 423, the one dollar stamp was printed on the existing double-line USPS watermarked paper stock, not on the single-line watermarked stock of the other stamps in this set, and was not issued until 1915. Thus the out-of-sequence listing of 460 rather than the expected 441.
A few of these stamps, sometimes referred to as change-over stamps, were printed using the previous 12 gauge perforation in one direction and the newer 10 gauge perforation in the other. The 1¢ and 2¢ stamps have been found in both the 12 x 10 and 10 x 12 configurations, while the five cent stamp has been found in the 12 x 10 configuration. This error came about due to the fact that the stamps were given perforations in one direction at a time. Operators inadvertently used the older 12 gauge perforation when perforating in the second direction. Since we consider these error stamps they will not be given full status in this Set. They are listed in Scott as sub-listings with small letter.
Set VI Perf 10 Flat Plate Coil Stamps: As with the fully perforated 12 stamps, coil stamps perforated either 10 vertically or 10 horizontally were printed on the single-line USPS watermarked paper stock and are listed in Scott as numbers 441 through 447. These stamps, printed using the flat plate method, must be distinguished from their counterparts, Set VII of the next year (1915), printed using the rotary press method and listed in Scott as numbers 448 through 458. (note there is no Scott listing for 451)
Next: Set VII
Rotary Press - Perf 10 Coils - Single-line Watermark of 1915
A Guide to the Washington Franklins 1908 · 1909 · 1910 · 1910 Perf 8.5 · 1912 · 1915 · 1916 · 1916 Coils · 1917 · 1918 · 1919 · 1919 Shanghai