Plate Position Diagrams Revisited

Dear Sir,

The American Plate Number Single Society (APNSS) supports collectors of plate number singles as well as other marginal markings.  Some members collect pane position markings, both as single stamps and in larger blocks or multiples.  As with plate numbers, ZIPs and other marginal markings, I am sure some collectors look for one of each issue, while others try to find an example of each possible pane position.

We don’t include Pane Position Singles (PPS) in the Hebert’s Standard Catalog of Plate Number Singles, since the purpose of the work is to list and price PNS for the individual plate numbers that were used on each issue.  However, we do list and price ZIP, ME and Copyright singles.  The Copyright singles are especially important because on more recent issues, USPS sometimes does not include plate numbers at all and the Copyright notice is the only marginal marking of any sort.  Sometimes even that appears only on the back, such as with this year’s Chinese New Year stamp, Scott #4221.  I would be happy to consider adding pane position singles to a future edition of the Hebert’s Catalog, if there is sufficient interest and demand for it, and several reliable contributors for pricing data.

Sincerely,
Rick Burdsall
Secretary, APNSS;
Editor, 2007 Hebert’s;
Member, USSS Marginal Markings Committee

Shanghai Overprints

Dear Sir,

I enjoyed the article on the Shanghai overprints in the February, 2008 issue of The United States Specialist.

The 10¢ on 5¢ Offices in China (Scott K5) illustrated below shows another variation.  Look at the "Shanghai" on the LL stamp in relation to the stamps above it - the "S" is almost flush with the edge of the design while the other two stamps the "S" is well to the left of the edge.  Yet all three stamps on the right seem to have the "S" lined up vertically.  So just the single overprint is mis-aligned.  Why is the single overprint is out of line?  This doesn’t seem to match any of the
cases you showed in your article.

Sincerely,
Doug D’Avino

The Author Responds

Dear Sir,

The bottom two overprints are lower on the stamps than the top four, so this is the UL-L position.  You are correct that the lower left overprint is closer than normal to the lower right one; this is simply the way the mini-overprinting plate was made up.

Sincerely,
Wallace Cleland