American Bank Note Company
1881
$650.00
Here’s something you won’t see every day! Listed in Scott as one of the varieties of #206 “punched with 8 holes in a circle,” but there’s more to it than that. This is an experimental printing of the 1¢ stamp of 1881 printed on double paper to prevent reuse. It was manufactured according to the Massey Patent (formerly “Douglas Patent” as described by Luff) and here’s how these stamps were made:
Before printing, a full sheet of paper was punched repeatedly with the 8-hole pattern and then layered to a second, unpunched sheet. When the stamps were printed, any ink landing over one of the holes would only be printed on the bottom sheet. If someone attempted to reuse the stamp by soaking it off an envelope, the layers would separate and be impossible to reconstruct.
The 4th image shows a black plastic card inserted between the paper layers of one stamp, revealing the punch holes in the top layer.
Purchase will be accompanied with an excerpt from my book “Inventions of Prevention” discussing the Massey (Douglas) Patent.
Full original gum, HR. Collector’s backstamps in selvage. Singles are scarce at best, multiple like this are very rare. SCV $200 per stamp.