U311 cut square UPSS Die 88 machine cancel, varieties green mouth, serifs EFOs

Item Specifics

Country

United States

Catalog Number

U311

Stamp Type

Postal Stationery

Condition

Used

Stamp Format

Single

Topic

People - Politicians

Year of Issue

1890

Item Description

37x45mm. This cut square was among thousands of stamps and cut squares collected from businesses at Union City, Indiana, in the early 1890s. Most of the readable postmarks in this hoard are from 1891 to 1893. Most of the 11-12,000 cut squares have the two-cent green Washington indicium that the United Postal Stationery Society (UPSS) identifies as Die 88. The Scott catalog number for this example on laid white paper is U311. There is no watermark. The upper right-hand corner is creased and there is a paper stain near the left edge.

American Postal Machine Company (and others?) produced five-bar killers like this, but none of the cut squares included any portion of the circular date stamp that would identify the post office of origin.

The stamps in the hoard had been soaked from the envelopes around the time of their collection. The stamps and cut squares were then sorted and tied tightly with string and sewing thread into bundles of 100 each. That process protected most of the items from damage and aging for over a century. I inherited and began unpacking the bundles in 2000. None of these sale items from the hoard has ever been in a collection.

Mail was arriving at Union City from all over the country via three railroads. Much of that mail was from small cities and towns in Indiana and Ohio and to a lesser degree from smaller communities in other nearby states. In other words, most of the fancy and geometric cancels probably originated within 150 to 200 miles of Union City.

The Die 88 stamped envelopes were printed in huge quantities. They display a wide variety of inking problems and die varieties, many of which fall under the EFO (errors, freaks and oddities) umbrella. Except for a few newly identified items that are not yet confirmed, these variations are found on multiple copies and have been documented; some display progressive characteristics.

The primary variety on this cut square is the obvious inking of the president's mouth. Stray areas of green ink show up on the Die 88s in several unintended places. The most common example of the stray green ink is probably a spot at Washington’s eye and a full or partial ring around the hair ribbon at the back of his neck. These two variations often occur together. In this example, there was no widespread inking problem. Other than a small dot of green ink at the back of the bust and a green smudge on the numeral “2,” the inked mouth is it. I found only 18 examples of this inked mouth variety in the Union City hoard, but some of them are not fully inked as this one is. This is probably the clearest example of this characteristic.

Another variety on this cut square is the serif on the lower bar of each letter “E” in the UNITED STATES POSTAGE text. Serifs are usually absent, but I have identified over 150 Die 88 cut squares in the hoard with the serifs. When the serifs do exist, they vary in size from one cut square to the next. On this cut square, they are in the middle of that size range.

Also, the crossbar of the “G” of POSTAGE does not extend to the right of the post. I have documented only 21 examples of this characteristic in the hoard.

You may combine this item with other stamp sale items to save on shipping. Thank you for looking.

All stamps are carefully packaged for safe delivery.

APS Member

Seller Information

Seller

keesindy (4649)

Registered Since

04/11/2016

Feedback

100%

Store

Stamps from Keesindy

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Item Location

Indiana, United States

Ships To

United States

Shipping Instructions

About 3½ years ago, I stopped selling and shipping outside the US due to new postal rules and rapidly rising costs. The USPS is raising postal rates again in January 2019. Today, December 25, 2018, due to the continuing rise in the cost of postage and associated fees, I am reluctantly raising my general shipping fee for the first time in many years. My sales here at HipStamp involve no additional charge for the purchase of multiple stamps. Shipping is via USPS unless otherwise specified. Be sure to contact me before making your purchases if you have questions.

Returns Accepted

Yes

Returns Policy

All items may be returned unless otherwise stated in the listing. Of course, I cannot be responsible if uninsured items are damaged during shipping. If you are dissatisfied with a purchase, contact me within 7 days of your receipt of the item to make arrangements for returning it. If I have made an error in my listing or the item is not as described, you will receive a full reimbursement plus the pre-agreed-upon cost to return the item.