Field Guide to Postal Uses of the Americana Series   Home   prev:  3.5c Envelope
 
 
 

Chapter 26 -- 12c Torch

 
 
<Fig. 26-1.
 
(select any pic to enlarge)
 
  Fig. 26-2 >
 
 
< Fig. 26-3 (top)
 
  Fig. 26-3 (bottom) >
 
 
< Fig. 26-4
 
  Fig. 26-5 >
 
 
< Fig. 26-6
 
 
 
  Bonus 26-7 >
 
12c presort coil (brownish red ink)
on magazine advertising postcard
(Edited from source image courtesy of Roland Austin).
 
 
Bonus 26-8
 
12c presort coil (red brown type) on magazine subscription postcard, circa 1983-1984.  Note that the mailer (Newsweek) used the earlier lines-only precancel as shown in Figure 26-5, and had to add the mail-class endorsement to that postcard printing since the stamp did not have it.  Here, the endorsement is still printed on this later card, even though it is redundant.  The "D" sticker means this card was the topmost of a bundled stack, all addressed to the same "Direct" 5-digit ZIP code.  (Edited from source image courtesy of Neal Lamb.)
 
 
Bonus 26-9
 
12c presort coil (red brown type) on magazine subscription postcard, circa 1983-1984.  Same mailer (Newsweek) as in previous postcard, but with different advertising.  (Edited from source image courtesy of Roland Austin.)
 
 
Bonus 26-10
 Color study of used and mint 12c coil stamps (typical selection, not meant to be exhaustive), to demonstrate the wide range of shades possible.  Only the right-side coil pairs are mint; all singles are used.  Note this scan was made in 2005 with a different scanner than the one recently used for the Figure 26-3 mint color study.  The two distinctive "reddish" ink colored stamps at lower-right are those of the "brownish red" color variety, currently listed in the Scott catalog as number 1816c.  (A feature in Chapter 26 discusses the color varieties in more detail.)
 
 
Bonus 26-11     (Select here for entire page)
 Excerpt from USPS Souvenir Page with Aug. 19, 1982 first-day cancel for Transportation 4c coil pair, supplemented by a 12c coil stamp to meet the first-class letter rate of 20c.  USPS policy required that first-day cancels were only to be applied to items bearing the minimum 1st-class postage rate in effect (for letters or postcards, respectively).  For USPS-supplied items, the USPS used older (or current) stamps cached in its inventory for these "make-up" purposes when issuing some stamps denominated below the current rate.
 
 
Bonus 26-12
 Pair of 12c sheet stamps on one-ounce 1st-class letter to a newspaper contest, Sept. 28, 1983.  4c convenience overpayment of 20c letter rate with the postcard-rate stamps of the earlier 18c letter era that ended Oct. 31, 1981 (the postcard rate during the 20c letter era was 13c).  Another example of a postal patron using up older stamps on mail, also a common practice of many stamp collectors.
 
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   Contents (c) 2009, Ronald Blanks.  Contact by e-mail:  rblanks_stamps@yahoo.com
 
 
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