Dialysis, damned if you do...dead if you don't 15 May 2018 07:18:23am
re: Hi seniors, greetings. Need help verifying the attached stamp ( Franklin 1 Cent )
I am unclear as to why you question the identification. Why do you think that it is a very rare stamp? They issued billions of #632. The rare varieties are just that, rare. So the odds of having one of the rare varieties is greater than seeing Big Foot and being hit by lighting in the same day!
But seriously, always start with the assumption that you have the most common variety. This helps a lot with remaining objective and so you do not falsely influence yourself.
And forget whatever anyone else has written in an album or on the back of the stamp unless you can verify that it was written by one of a handful of philatelic experts. Trust yourself and arm yourself with the proper information to make your own decision.
When trying to ID the troublesome Washington/Franklin issues of 1908-1922, follow these steps.
1. Determine the design
2. Determine the perforations
3. Determine the watermark (if applicable)
4. Determine the printing method (flat plate, offset, rotary)
5. Determine the variety type (if applicable)
Your stamp is easy, you only need to do steps 1 and 2 above.
Understanding the most common attribute of the stamp (the perforations) will quickly show you which Scott number it is. Have you gauged the perforations? If so, what did you get?
Don