#408 - 1912 1ยข single line watermark, imperforate
See below for details
Basic Info
1¢ yellowish green, green, dark green
Subject: George Washington
Printing Method: Flat Plate
Perforations: Imperforate
Watermark: Single Line USPS (see below)
Scott #: 408
Issued: March 19, 1912
Value
Used
$1 - $2
No postmark with gum (MH)
$1
Full perfect gum, no postmark
no trace of stamp hinge mark (MNH)
$1 - $5
#408 Plate Numbers
#408 was issued with the following plate #'s
Imprint, A and plate #
55727-28, 30, 32-33, 35, 37, 81, 87
A and plate #
5806-07, 28, 31, 37, 40, 43, 45, 59, 67, 73-74,78, 80, 86-87, 91-92, 95, 97
5900-01, 03, 05, 18
Plate # only
6006-09, 11-13, 18, 20, 38, 41
6114-50
6475-78, 85-88
6606-17, 19, 28, 32, 81
6713- 25, 75-78, 89, 98
6804-12, 14, 20-21, 29, 31, 41, 61
6940-42, 45, 55, 58, 82, 87
7023-27, 30
7107-08, 10, 13-16, 18-19, 48-49, 53
7283-85 , 88 -94 , 99
7300-02, 12, 20, 26, 29, 63
7500-20, 25, 33, 46
7671-74
Private perforations
Brinkerhoff private perforation, type II. The complete list of private perforations for this issue can be found by scrolling down.
A new format
Prior to the issuance of this stamp Franklin's head was used as the vignette subject. Indeed every 1¢ stamp issued in the US up to this point had Ben Franklin grace its design. The 1¢ was changed to George Washington and all values 8¢ and above were changed to Ben Franklin.
Another change was to change the value from ONE CENT to 1 CENT 1. This was to conform to the Universal Postal Union regulations that stated the value of a stamp has to be displayed numerically.
The Kansas City Roulette
The post office in Kansas City discovered that they could separate the stamps in their unwanted imperforate sheets by using a common dress pattern tracing wheel. 93,600 of these stamps were sold. A large quantity were sold to collectors.
The problem lies with how easily these could be recreated. There were 18 different tracing wheels used at the time, on different surfaces and sometimes a few sheets stacked on top of each other when rouletted. Consequently the roulette takes on many different shapes and forms. So anyone with a cheap tracing wheel and some cheap imperforate stamps can change a $1 stamp into a $40 stamp. Except one should never buy one of these unless it is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity.
A dress makers tracing wheel, tracing wheels were used for perforating the Kansas City roulette.
The Watermark
The watermark consists of single lined USPS letters. A stamp may show only part of a letter or letters
Earliest Known Use
Earliest known use of #408, April 26th, 1912
The 1912 Definitives, Part I
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