A Stamp Collector's Journey To Completing US Section Of Scott International Part I (1947 Edition)

It's time to show updated pages...

Page 1: I decided to fill the last blank with #88 for now. Still looking for #95 and #97 because the 12c grill I have there is actually #90. The goal is to have all F grills in that row.


Page 2: Filled quite a few holes. Still looking for that pesky #160 at a reasonable cost.


Page 3: Went with the 2c broken hat variety to fill the blank space. Finding a suitable $1 is taking some time.


Page 4: Finally filled with #276 arriving today. The #260 is questionable as to if it is really unwatermarked, but I cannot see one. I acquired that stamp from someone I trust, so hopefully it is correct.


Page 5: I hadn't shown this before.


I'm waiting on some Kans. and Nebr. overprints, then I will show the next set of pages.

Very lovely NicholasC

Very, very nice. Makes a lot more sense than the way the Scott catalog is currently laid out.

The Kans. and Nebr. set arrived. Here are the next 4 pages:






Some of what is shown are not my best stamps. They weren't as convenient to access for images.

#160 arrived today, so page 2 is now complete:

Some new arrivals. One of them is an upgrade. Two are not in the Part 1 pages, but get me closer to completing the sets. And the final two are filling spaces in the back of the book for Part 1. My first two Offices in China stamps.

US #114:

US #121:

US #153:

US #K1:

US #K2:

I've shown pages 1 thru 9 already. I have all the stamps that would be on pages 10 thru 18. Page 19 is a blank page for souvenir sheets (I can fill that, too). So, I'm going to skip forward to page 20.

Here's where I am with pages 20 thru 24, with page 24 being the last page in the U.S section of 1947 Scott International Part I. There are quite a few holes here, but I am on he hunt.

Great job Nick. When I look at those pages I can not see collecting that modern stuff


Peter

NIcholasC
Observations/questions:
1. The Panama Pacific issue: I noticed you mount the later perf 10 version. Scott listed the orange shade of the 10 cent stamp as 400a (small "a") and does not promote it to 400A (large "A") until 1952 catalog. Wouldn't the perf 12 set be more authentic?
2. Other catalog simlifications: The 2 cent Black Harding, the 1929 Edison, etc., which sheet version did you select and why?
3. Postage due 1930-33: I sense the album is again vague here. I don't know if the stamps cover over any pertinent text, but again would the perf 11, J69-J78 be the most proper here? Rather than the rotary J79++. It appears you have mounted the scarlet rotary printing shade which came out in 1943.
Thanks for the nice pages!

Hi John, Great questions...

1. The spaces say I can choose from different catalog numbers, so I chose the perf 10 because there are only 4 stamps in the set. I wasn't aware the 400A was formalized later. I have all of the perf 12 stamps. I will update the page.

2. The 1st Harding space says 610 or 612. I believe I placed a 610, but I will double check. The second space is for the imperforate. The 1st Edison space says 654 or 655. I believe I placed a 654, but I will double check. The second space is for the coil. The rationale was just choosing the earlier catalog number. Should have followed that rule for question 1.

3. Yes, the perf 11s would be more natural, but I don't have all of them yet. Still looking to get them. The page allows for either sets of numbers (1/2 through 50) so I chose the scarlet ones. I have the dull carmine's, would that be a better choice for now? Note I also don't have the correct J77. I think it's the J77a that I am showing.

Thank you. The irony of seeing the completed page is missing the now-hidden text!

It would also appear that your "1947" edition album is a slightly later update/printing as the black Hardings were renumbered a bit between the 1949 and 1951 editions of the US Specialized catalog to the current 610/612 scheme you cite, see below. (I don't have a 1950 catalog). Also as a more obscure cataloging tangent, t note that the rare rotary perf 11, (initially 613B, now 613), was not added to the catalog until sometime between the 1942 and 1945 catalogs, several years after its discovery.

1949 Scott Specialized:


1951 Scott Specialized:


Which easily explains why Harding stamps in vintage albums can have the correct vintage number but are incorrect today and cause considerable confusion to beginners.

These rotary press postage dues are maddening. The 2019 Specialized Catalog only lists 1931 for the year. From reading further (including another thread in this community), it seems like the dull carmine's were printed first, then the wet scarlet (1943?), then the dry scarlet (1953?). Why then wouldn't the J80, for example, be dull carmine and the wet scarlet be J80a and dry scarlet be J80b? The 2019 lists the wet scarlets as the major number. The catalog also says the dull carmine's are dry printings, but how can that be true? I didn't think dry printings were done until 1953.

Perhaps this is because the dull carmine is harder to find? If so, Scott needs to fix the years and identify when the printings happened.

Ignore your 2019 Specialized. These rotary dues were a mess of errors until about 4 years ago. They have been renumbered since your 2019 catalog (in 2021, I think) to make the original dull carmine printings to be the base number, all the scarlet printings with an "a" suffix, and finally the dry printings of 1958-59 have a "b" suffix. And clean up several wet/dry designation errors. Very neat and clean now. They could be more detailed with the printing dates. And one might argue they should have been 3 full sets of catalog numbers.

The dull carmine and scarlet printings are both very common.

Thanks, John. I've had my eye on the 2025 catalogue, but I'm not wanting to pay the full price right now. I have the dull carmine's, so I'll put those in until I can complete the perf 11 set.

Very nice! It good to see Scott showed some mercy with what to show for officials - (Justice, Executive, and State Depts). Those can be expensive to find decently centered. I cheated and put proofs in those spaces in my main collection.

I agree with John Becker's comment on pan pacific. Perhaps find a 10c yellow p12 to pop in there.