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1940-1949 Three Cent Commemorative issues

Including regular issues of the 1940s.

 

1940-1942 Issues

Scott 894, Pony Express, plate number 22581

Scott 895, Pan American Union, plate number 22562

Scott 895 var, offset on back (under the gum), plate number 22561 (Image courtesy of Bill Langs)

Scott 896, Idaho Statehood, plate number 22615

Scott 897, 3¢ Wyoming Statehood, plate number 22585

Scott 898, 3¢ Coronado Expedition, plate number 22637

Scott 899, 1¢ Defense, plate number 22664

Scott 899 var, 1¢ Defense, local precancel, plate number 22661

Scott 900, 2¢ Defense, plate number 22770

Scott 900 var, 2¢ Defense showing plate crack LL to LR selvage, plate number 22749

Scott 900 var, 2¢ Defense, dry printing / underinked, plate number 22749

Scott 900 var, 2¢ Defense, Bureau precancel, plate number 22771

Scott 901, 3¢ Defense, plate number 22671

Scott 901 var, 3¢ Defense showing ink smear, plate number 22712

Scott 901 var, 3¢ Defense, Bureau precancel, plate number 22691

Scott 902, 3¢ Gettysburg Address, plate number 22683

Scott 903, 3¢ Vermont Statehood, plate number 22706

Scott 904, 3¢ Kentucky Statehood, plate number 22925

Scott 905, 3¢ Win the War, bright lilac, plate number 22948

Scott 905 var, 3¢ misperfed horizontally, plate number 22965

Scott 905 var, 3¢ misperfed horizontally, miscut between panes, plate number 23047

Scott 905 var, 3¢ misperfed horizontally and vertically, captured plate number 22966 (Image courtesy of Stuart Katz)

Scott 905 var, 3¢ double paper error, plate number 2294x

The double paper is evident in the top left selvage, where the top layer has been lost, including the last digit of the plate number.

Scott 905 var, 3¢ Win the War, fake local precancel, plate number 22951

Clues:
- The stamp was issued in 1942 when the abbreviation for Arizona was "Ariz." -- the 2-character AZ was not used until ZIP Codes were introduced in the 1960's
- The town was not incorporated until 1950 and only had 2000 residents then. There were very few businesses at the time and no legitimate need for precancels
- The quality appears to be more typical of a rubber handstamp applied manually to a single stamp, and not very well, rather than of an overprint-type mat with high quality ink applied in a grid to a block of stamps by a professional printer
- No example is known on cover. The precancellations appear to have been applied long after any possible contemporary usage
- The stamp was offered along with a number of other identical suspicious local precancels on stamps spanning a quarter century

Scott 905 var, 3¢ purple, former Scott 905a, plate number 22972

The purple shade was listed as Scott 905a for some years, but no longer merits a minor listing. Image courtesy of The Philatelic Foundation.

Scott 905b fake, 3¢ "deep reddish purple error," fake Bureau precancel, plate number 22965

Expertization concluded that it was the normal bright lilac printing, with the color chemically altered. Image courtesy of The Philatelic Foundation..

Additional proof that it is a fake: all of the reddish purple stamps were precanceled, the vast majority with Los Angeles, Calif. and a smaller number with Fremont, Ohio. None were precanceled Olympia, Wash. as with this example.

Scott 906, 3¢ Chinese Resistance, plate number 22954

Scott 907, 2¢ United Nations, plate number 22987

Scott 907 var, 2¢, misperfed horizontally and vertically, plate number 22990

Scott 907 var, 2¢ United Nations, over-inked, plate number 22987

Scott 907 var, 2¢ United Nations, underinked, plate number 22987

Scott 907 var, 2¢ United Nations, local precancel, plate number 22987

Scott 908, 1¢ Four Freedoms, plate number 23011

Scott 908 var, 1¢ Four Freedoms showing ghost plate number 23009

Scott 908 var, 1¢ Four Freedoms, misperfed vertically, captured plate number 23010

Scott 908 var, 1¢ Four Freedoms, local precancel, plate number 23006

1943-1944 Overrun Countries

The Bureau of Engraving and Printing was busy printing war bonds and ration coupons, and had neither the time nor the resources for designing and printing stamps. It also did not possess the specialized presses necessary for multi-color printing. For the first time since 1893, this job was given to a private security printer, the American Bank Note Company. Plate numbers could not be used, as this would conflict with the BEP practice of assigning sequential plates for all issues. Therefore, the name of each country appears as the plate number. Only upper right positions were printed; there are no other plate positions.

Scott 909, 5¢ Poland

Scott 909 var, 5¢ Poland error, missing plate number

Scott 909a, 5¢ Poland, double impression of country name

Scott 909c, 5¢ Poland error, reverse printing of colors

Scott 910, 5¢ Czechoslovakia

Scott 910a, 5¢ Czechoslovakia error, double impression (especially evident in the red "Czechoslovakia")

Scott 910b, 5¢ Czechoslovakia error, reverse printing of colors

Scott 911, 5¢ Norway

Scott 911 var, 5¢ Norway, fake local precancel

See note on fake precancels after Scott 921.

Scott 912, 5¢ Luxembourg

Scott 912 var, 5¢ Luxembourg, fake local precancel

See note on fake precancels after Scott 921.

Scott 912 var, 5¢ Luxembourg, double printing of blue (easiest to see in the name under the flag)

Scott 913, 5¢ Netherlands

Scott 914, 5¢ Belgium

Scott 914 var, 5¢ Belgium, fake local precancel

See note on fake precancels after Scott 921.

Scott 915, 5¢ France

Scott 915 var, 5¢ France, fake local precancel

See note on fake precancels after Scott 921.

Scott 915 var, 5¢ France error, reverse printing of colors

Scott 916, 5¢ Greece

Scott 917, 5¢ Yugoslavia

Scott 917 var, 5¢ Yugoslavia, fake local precancel

See note on fake precancels after Scott 921.

Scott 917a, 5¢ Yugoslavia error

The blue and red stripes of the error stamp were printed over the top of the gray ink used for the frame -- resulting in "no folds" in the flag image in the blue and red stripes. This is especially noticeable in the red stripe in this example.

Scott 918, 5¢ Albania

Scott 919, 5¢ Austria

Scott 919a, 5¢ Austria, double impression (especially evident in the red "Austria")

Scott 920, 5¢ Denmark

Scott 920a, 5¢ Denmark error, reverse printing of colors (red over black) (Image courtesy of Stuart Katz)

Scott 920 var, 5¢ Denmark error, reverse printing of colors (red over gray) (formerly Scott 920c)

Scott 921, 5¢ Korea

Scott 921 var, 5¢ Korea, fake local precancel

Clues about fake local precancels:
- Local precancels were generally only authorized for definitive size stamps
- No legitimate precancels are known on any of the Overrun Countries stamps
- The correct name of the town is Palos Verdes Estates, plural. It seems unlikely that the local postmaster would make a mistake in the town name when ordering precancels

- The town of Palos Verdes Estates had fewer than 1000 people in the 1940 census. Severe zoning restrictions prohibited virtually all business
- The unincorporated area of Santa Susana, California only had about 1000 people in the 2000 census. Population records for 1940 could not be located.
- There were no major businesses in these rural areas and no legitimate need for precancels at all, much less for precancels at a premium rate
- The quality appears to be more typical of a rubber handstamp applied manually to a single stamp, and not very well, rather than of an overprint-type mat with high quality ink applied in a grid to a block of stamps by a professional printer
- No example is known on cover. The precancellations appear to have been applied long after any possible contemporary usage
- The stamps were offered along with a number of other identical suspicious local precancels on stamps spanning a quarter century

1944 Commemoratives

Scott 922, 3¢ Transcontinental Railroad, plate number 23142

Scott 923, 3¢ Atlantic Crossing, plate number 23146

Scott 924, 3¢ Telegraph Centennial, plate number 23152

Scott 924 var, 3¢ Telegraph, possibly fake local precancel, plate number 23151

Clues:
- The correct name of the town is Palos Verdes Estates, plural. It seems unlikely that the local postmaster would make a mistake in the town name when ordering precancels

- Local precancels were generally only authorized for definitive size stamps
- The town had fewer than 1000 people in the 1940 census. Severe zoning restrictions prohibited virtually all business. There was no legitimate need for precancels
- The quality appears to be more typical of a rubber handstamp applied manually to a single stamp, and not very well, rather than of an overprint-type mat with high quality ink applied in a grid to a block of stamps by a professional printer. On the other hand, this is described only as "possibly fake" because the plate number single has been photographically cropped from a plate block which, if faked, has been done with great care and consistency and is among the best we have seen
- No example is known on cover. The precancellations appear to have been applied long after any possible contemporary usage
- The stamp was offered along with a number of other identical suspicious local precancels on stamps spanning a quarter century

Scott 925, 3¢ Corregidor, plate number 23162

Scott 926, 3¢ Motion Pictures, plate number 23180

Scott 927, 3¢ Florida statehood, plate number 23237

Scott 928, 5¢ United Nations, plate number 23276

Scott 928 var, 5¢ UN, fake local precancel, plate number 23276

Clues:
- Local precancels were generally only authorized for definitive size stamps
- Llano is unincorporated and only has 1200 people today. Census records for 1940 and 1950 could not be located. There are no major business and no legitimate need for precancels
- The quality appears to be more typical of a rubber handstamp applied manually to a single stamp, rather than of an overprint-type mat with high quality ink applied in a grid to a block of stamps by a professional printer
- No example is known on cover. The precancellations appear to have been applied long after any possible contemporary usage
- The stamp was offered along with a number of other identical suspicious local precancels on stamps spanning a quarter century

1946 Commemoratives

Scott 929, 3¢ Marines hoisting the flag on Iwo Jima, plate number 23296

Scott 930, 1¢ Roosevelt Memorial - Hyde Park, plate number 23310

Scott 931, 2¢ Roosevelt Memorial - Warm Springs, plate number 23314

Scott 932, 3¢ Roosevelt Memorial - White House, plate number 23294

Scott 933, 5¢ Roosevelt Memorial, plate number 23382

Scott 934, 3¢ Army, plate number 23325

Scott 935, 3¢ Navy, plate number 23340

Scott 936, 3¢ Coast Guard, plate number 23334

Scott 937, 3¢ Alfred E. Smith, plate number 23355

Scott 937 var, 3¢, ghost plate numbers 23355 and 23358, from a pane having plate number 23358

Scott 938, 3¢ Texas statehood, plate number 23366

Scott 939, 3¢ Merchant Marine, plate number 23405

Scott 940, 3¢ Honorable Discharge, plate number 23435

Scott 941, 3¢ Tennessee statehood, plate number 23448

Scott 942, 3¢ Iowa statehood, plate number 23469

Scott 942 var, 3¢ Iowa Statehood, misperfed vertically, plate number23468

Scott 943, 3¢ Smithsonian Institution, plate number23464

Scott 944, 3¢ Kearney Expedition, plate number23519

The Thomas Edison issue, Scott 945, appears on the Famous Americans page.

Scott 946, 3¢ Pulitzer, plate number 23626

1947 Commemoratives

Scott 947, 3¢ Postage Stamp Centenary, plate number 23598

   

Scott 947 var, misperfed vertically, plate number 23599

  

5¢ Franklin, Scott 948aP var, plate number 23592; and 10¢ Washington, Scott 948bP var, plate number 23593
from proofs of the 1947 CIPEX souvenir sheets (Scott 948P)

Images courtesy of the National Postal Museum and USSS

Scott 949, 3¢ Doctors, plate number 23657

Scott 950, 3¢ Utah Centennial, plate number 23688

Scott 951, 3¢ Frigate "Constitution," plate number 23715

Scott 952, 3¢ Everglades National Park, plate number 23744

1948 Commemoratives

The George Washington Carver issue, Scott 953, appears on the Famous Americans page.

Scott 954, 3¢ California Gold Centennial, plate number 23777

Scott 954 var, 3¢ California Gold, misperfed horizontally, plate number 23773 (Image courtesy of Stuart Katz)

Scott 955, 3¢ Mississippi Territory, plate number 23807

Scott 955 var, 3¢ Mississippi Territory, fake local precancel, plate number 23802

Clues:
- Local precancels were generally only authorized for definitive size stamps
- While it is the county seat and there are numerous gold mines in the area, Elko only had 4100 residents in 1940 and no legitimate need for precancels
- The quality appears to be more typical of a rubber handstamp applied manually to a single stamp, rather than of an overprint-type mat with high quality ink applied in a grid to a block of stamps by a professional printer
- No example is known on cover. The precancellations appear to have been applied long after any possible contemporary usage
- The stamp was offered along with a number of other identical suspicious local precancels on stamps spanning a quarter century

Scott 956, 3¢ Four Chaplains, plate number 23822

Scott 957, 3¢ Wisconsin Centennial, plate number 23814

Scott 957 var, 3¢ Wisconsin Centennial, preprint paper fold, plate number 23813

Scott 958, 5¢ Swedish Pioneers, plate number 23830

Scott 959, 3¢ Women's Progress, plate number 23844

Scott 959 var, fake local precancel, plate number 23843

Clues:
- Local precancels were generally only authorized for definitive size stamps
- The stamp was issued in 1948 when the abbreviation for Nevada was "Nev." -- the 2-character NV was not used until ZIP Codes were introduced in the 1960's
- Fallon has fewer than 4,000 people and no major industries or other legitimate need for precancels
- The quality appears to be more typical of a rubber handstamp applied manually to a single stamp, rather than of an overprint-type mat with high quality ink applied in a grid to a block of stamps by a professional printer
- No example is known on cover. The precancellations appear to have been applied long after any possible contemporary usage
- The stamp was offered along with a number of other identical suspicious Fallon local precancels on stamps spanning a quarter century

The William Allen White issue, Scott 960, appears on the Famous Americans page.

Scott 961, 3¢ Canadian Friendship, plate number 23853

Scott 962, 3¢ Francis Scott Key, plate number 23835

Scott 962 var, misprinted to top (but perfed correctly), plate number 23836 (Image courtesy of Bill Langs)

Scott 962 var, 3¢ Key, "ghost" plate numbers 23835 and 23836

Scott 963, 3¢ Youth Month, plate number 23867

Scott 964, 3¢ Oregon Territory, plate number 23872

The Harlan Fiske Stone issue, Scott 965, appears on the Famous Americans page.

Scott 966, 3¢ Mount Palomar Observatory, plate number 23884

Scott 966a, vertical pair imperforate horizontally error, plate number 23885 (Image courtesy of The Philatelic Foundation)

Scott 967, 3¢ Clara Barton, plate number 23899

Scott 968, 3¢ Poultry Industry, plate number 23902

Scott 969, 3¢ Gold Star Mothers, plate number 23834

Scott 969 var, fake local precancel, plate number 23833

Clues:
- Local precancels were generally only authorized for definitive size stamps
- The stamp was issued in 1948 when the standard abbreviation for Nevada was "Nev." -- the 2-character NV was not used until ZIP Codes were introduced in the 1960's
- Fallon has fewer than 4,000 people and no major industries or other legitimate need for precancels
- The quality appears to be more typical of a rubber handstamp applied manually to a single stamp, rather than of an overprint-type mat with high quality ink applied in a grid to a block of stamps by a professional printer
- No example is known on cover. The precancellations appear to have been applied long after any possible contemporary usage
- The stamp was offered along with a number of other identical suspicious Fallon local precancels on stamps spanning a quarter century

Scott 970, 3¢ Fort Kearney, plate number 23908

Scott 971, 3¢ Peter Stuyvesant, Volunteer Firemen, plate number 23918

Scott 972, 3¢ Indian Centennial, plate number 23921

Scott 973, 3¢ Rough Riders, plate number 23950

Scott 973 var, misperfed horizontally, plate number 23949

Scott 974, 3¢ Juliette Gordon Low, plate number 23954

The Will Rogers issue, Scott 975, appears on the Famous Americans page.

Scott 976, 3¢ Fort Bliss, plate number 23937

This was the first U.S. stamp to picture a camel. It's among the various animals appearing in the triangular border.

Scott 977, 3¢ Moina Michael and memorial poppy, plate number 23965

Scott 978, 3¢ Gettysburg Address, plate number 23962

Scott 979, 3¢ American Turners, plate number 23941

The Joel Chandler Harris issue, Scott 980, appears on the Famous Americans page.

1949 Commemoratives

Scott 981, 3¢ Minnesota Territory, plate number 24032

Scott 982, 3¢ Washington & Lee University, plate number 24037

Scott 983, 3¢ Puerto Rico Election, plate number 24063

Scott 983 var, fake local precancel, plate number 24064

Clues:
- Local precancels were generally only authorized for definitive size stamps
- Custer (named after postmaster Albert Custer, not the famous colonel) only had 299 residents in the 2000 census and no legitimate need for precancels
- The quality appears to be more typical of a rubber handstamp applied manually to a single stamp, rather than of an overprint-type mat with high quality ink applied in a grid to a block of stamps by a professional printer
- No example is known on cover. The precancellations appear to have been applied long after any possible contemporary usage
- The stamp was offered along with a number of other identical suspicious local precancels on stamps spanning a quarter century

Scott 984, 3¢ Annapolis Tercentenary, plate number 24096

Scott 984 var, 3¢ Annapolis, probably fake local precancel, plate number 24093

Clues:
- Local precancels were generally only authorized for definitive size stamps
- Saltville had a population of about 2600 at the time and no legitimate need for precancels
- The quality appears to be more typical of a rubber handstamp applied manually to a single stamp, rather than of an overprint-type mat with high quality ink applied in a grid to a block of stamps by a professional printer
- No example is known on cover. The precancellations appear to have been applied long after any possible contemporary usage
- The stamp was offered along with a number of other identical suspicious local precancels on stamps spanning a quarter century

Scott 984 var, 3¢ Annapolis, misperfed horizontally, plate number 24093

Scott 985, 3¢ Grand Army of the Republic, plate number 24139

Scott 985 var, 3¢ GAR, fake local precancel plate number 24136

Clues:
- Local precancels were generally only authorized for definitive size stamps
- Battle Mountain, nicknamed the "Armpit of America," had a population under 3000 in the 2000 census and no legitimate need for precancels. Census figures for 1940 or 1950 could not be located, but based on a contemporary photo of Main Street, it would be surprising if it hit four figures
- The quality appears to be more typical of a rubber handstamp applied manually to a single stamp, rather than of an overprint-type mat with high quality ink applied in a grid to a block of stamps by a professional printer
- No example is known on cover. The precancellations appear to have been applied long after any possible contemporary usage
- The stamp was offered along with a number of other identical suspicious Battle Mountain local precancels on stamps spanning a quarter century

Scott 985 var, 3¢ GAR, misperfed horizontally and vertically, plate number 24135

The Edgar Allan Poe issue, Scott 986, appears on the Famous Americans page.

Related pages:

3¢ Commemoratives of the 1930s

The Presidential series

Famous Americans

3¢ Commemoratives of the 1950s

 

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This page last updated October 29, 2022.