The Auction:
This
auction is for one 1054 Bureau precancel coil
pair FVF
and MNH. It is the 1c George
Washington stamp with JACKSONVILLE
FLA. city type 61 overprint PSS
1054-61 (721). The 1954
rotary press coil is what specialists identify
as large holes wet printed* and perf.
10 vert.
Completing the
1¢ precancel Bureau city type coil set is
difficult in MNH.
There are 118 different city overprints!
*In
2015 Scott Catalogue renumbered certain
Liberty Issue stamps. This is the new Scott
number 1054. The old number was 1054c.
The 1c precancel
paid domestic Third-Class Bulk Rate
Non-Profit until July 1, 1960.
The high moisture of wet printing tended to stretch the paper
during printing and
therefore centering issues were common. This pair
is typical. The 50-year-old
Liberty Series pair will be bright, fresh,
and have full original gum.
Mint never
hinged Bureau of
Engraving and Printing (BEP) precancels are uncommon when compared
to used. There is renewed interest in mint
never hinged precanceled USA material from
this era.
Read on to learn
more about this variety, which was the first
of the 1c Washington coil precancel types.
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Liberty
Issue and earlier precancels are
not priced in Scott. According to Scott
Catalogue precancels are listed only if
the precanceled stamp is different from the
nonprecanceled version, or if the stamp only
exists precanceled.
Precancels and
regular stamps were all printed without
tagging at that time so Scott does not believe
they warrant separate minor number. All regular
issues since the late 1960s have been
tagged, while their precancel counterparts
remain untagged. This tagging difference is
the reason why most modern precancels have separate
catalogue numbers and most older precancels do not.
Wet printed stamps had
been printed on the old Stickney
Press since 1914.
Precancel 1c Liberty coils were first printed in Oct.
1954. The moisture content of the paper was about
35% and therefore considered wet. The paper is
characteristically thin and translucent and
the engraved images are soft or
"fuzzy" compared to later dry
printed stamps.
The minimum print order
from the BEP for a precancelled city coil was 250,000
stamps so quantities were initially available.
There was
a problem that prevented most collectors from obtaining
unused (mint full gum) precancelled stamps. At the time of this
printing, it was illegal for collectors to purchase mint
precancels without a precancel user's permit. Few
dealers or collectors could meet this requirement so the
precancels for collectors were often devalued by soaking them in water
to remove the gum and therefore make them
"used". MNH Full gummed pairs from this era are much harder
to find than no gum or used counterparts.
1054cv 1054p 1054v
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