Identifying Four Flags 4706 - 4709

For used stamps on paper, how does one distinguish the ATM version of the Four Flags (4706-4709) from the 4641-4644 variety. AFAIK both have the same perf, microprinting, flag width, and red color dots in the stars.

Hi Perf10. This has been talked about before. Please use the search function here and look for '2012 Four Flags'. You will find a thread by that name that tells you how to distinguish these!

Peter

Peter - yes, I had done a search and found info from years ago stating that in many cases there is no way to distinguish these two issues when on paper. I'd hoped someone had discovered a new way by now.

Maybe this one: http://goscf.com/t/32632&SearchTerm...2+Four+Flags

One difference I have found is in the reflectivity of the surface of the stamps. The ATM stamps, if held at a slight angle to a light source, are highly reflective. Not so for the stamps from the CB20s.

Interesting about the reflectivity. In that case none of my used examples of these flags is an ATM variety. I'll have to see about buying some.

I've never seen a stamp-dispensing ATM. Are most only in big cities? I assume these are standard bank ATMs that also sell stamps, not the the dispensers in some post offices.

They are special stamp dispensing machines that can print one or more stamps on demand. And no, they are not the same as a bank ATM. They have a totally different purpose. And the stamps are not really called ATM stamps, but Computer Vended Postage or CVP's.

Peter

Hmm, the only CVP machine I've seen dispensed only the label-style postage, the Rudolph design was a popular one, not the so-called ATM stamps.

The machines in some post offices are capable of dispensing both the label style print-on-demand stamps and the ATM panes of 18. The machine in my local post office can do this but hasn't been stocked with ATM panes since the 2014 Winter Fun issue was sold out or just removed.

Some bank ATMs do sell stamps. There's a Wells Fargo ATM in the building where I work that does, albeit at a premium. It's $10.62 for a pane of 18.

After obtaining some of 4706-4709 I compared them to 4641-4644 and may have found a visual difference. The 2012 year text is slightly lower relative to FOREVER on 4706-4709 as compared to 4641-4644. I do not have many examples to check, so perhaps someone might want to examine their examples to either confirm or deny this finding.

I prepared a comparison image f4flags.jpg, and tried to attach per instructions but the uploading process gets stuck: nothing happens when I click "Close this window".