Jay Smith & Associates: United States: Stamps: EFOs: Errors, Freaks, and Oddities

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United States: Stamps: EFOs: Errors, Freaks, and Oddities

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EFOs: Errors, Freaks, and Oddities

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Item #

Quality & Description

IMAGES: Hover mouse pointer over image to determine if ACTUAL image of item OR a REPRESENTATIVE sample image of item.
Click for more information

Never
Hinged

US$

Mint
Hinged

US$

Used

US$

249962

Scott #807 [1938 3 cent Jefferson "Prexie", Sheet Stamp] Mint, no gum, paper slightly aged. Dramatic MISPERFORATION with the perforations shifted about 10% upward (and slightly to the left), resulting in the text "3 CENTS 3" cut in half. While misperforations are not considered to be "rarities", they are somewhat unusual on the sheet stamps (more often seen on the booklet and coil stamps) of this issue. I have probably had more than 1,000,000 examples of this sheet stamp, but this is the only significant misperforation that I have been able to offer as of June 2025.

ACTUAL item.

---

7.00

---

249963

Scott #810 [1938 5 cent Monroe "Prexie", Sheet Stamp] (Used) Precancel "NEW YORK / N.Y.", with nearly full gum, but small bits of envelope adhesion indicating that it had been on an envelope (and had been pried off). Dramatic MISPERFORATION with the perforations shifted about 8% downward (and to the left), resulting in the perforations cutting through "UNITED". While misperforations are not considered to be "rarities", they are somewhat unusual on the sheet stamps (more often seen on the booklet and coil stamps) of this issue. I have had thousands of examples of this sheet stamp, but this is the only significant misperforation that I have been able to offer; it is also the only Prexie Precanceled misperforation that I can recall having as of June 2025.

ACTUAL item.

---

8.00

249964

Scott #960 [1948 3 cent William Allen White (Writer, Journalist)] Mint, no gum. A MISPERFORATION with the perforations shifted about 5% to the left, resulting showing portions of two stamps. This misperforation is not especially dramatic, but it is quite unusual on one of these mid-size commemorative stamps. While misperforations are not considered to be "rarities", they are quite unusual on the commemoratives of this era. In 52 years, this is the only misperforation that I have been able to offer of this stamp issue.

ACTUAL item.

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SOLD

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249961

Scott #1003 [1951 3 cent George Washington at 1776 Battle of Brooklyn] Mint, no gum, SET OF TWO STAMPS which must be from the same original sheet, with dramatic MISPERFORATION. The perforations are shifted about 25% to the right and slightly down. One stamp has top margin selvage and must be from the upper right corner of a 50-pane from a lower right pane of the full press sheet of 200 with wide margin (no plate number showing, so the plate number must have been at the lower right of this pane). The other stamp is from an interior position, most certainly of the same sheet. Both have very dramatic appearance, but the upper right margin example is really exceptional! While misperforations are not considered to be "rarities", they are very unusual on the commemorative stamps of this era and thus can be reasonably described as "extremely scarce".

ACTUAL item.

---

SOLD

---

235641

Scott #1033, 1954 2c Jefferson. Misperforated single. NH VF. Nice freak with vertical and horizontal perfs shifted into design.

REPRESENTATIVE image of stamp design.

6.00

---

249965

Scott #1035 [1954 3 cent Statue of Liberty, Sheet Stamp] Mint, no gum. A MISPERFORATION with the perforations shifted about 5% to the down, resulting in cutting off (not really visible on either design) "U.S. POSTAGE 3c". While this misperforation is not especially large, cutting off such important text makes it very desirable. While misperforations are not considered to be "rarities", they are especially in demand on the Liberty Series. In 52 years, I have not previously been able to offer this particular misperforation.

ACTUAL item.

---

7.00

---

249966

Scott #1057 [1954 3 cent Statue of Liberty, Coil Stamp] Mint, lightly hinged, but right stamp with a thin spot (and not counted in the value). STRIP OF THREE with vertical MISPERFORATION with the perforations shifted about 10% to the left, resulting in going through "3c". While this misperforation is not especially large, it is fairly dramatic. While misperforations are not considered to be "rarities", they are especially in demand on the Liberty Series. In 52 years, I have not previously been able to offer this particular misperforation. Priced only as a pair.

ACTUAL item.

---

12.00

---

249967

Scott #1058 [1958 4 cent Lincoln, Liberty Series, Coil Stamp] NEVER HINGED with F-VF centering, with vertical MISPERFORATION with the design split about 60%-40% (through the A of POSTAGE). A very dramatic misperforation. While misperforations are not considered to be "rarities", they are especially in demand on the Liberty Series. In 52 years, I have not previously been able to offer this particular misperforation.

ACTUAL item.

12.00

---

249968

Scott #1058 [1958 4 cent Lincoln, Liberty Series, Coil Stamp] Mint, disturbed gum, with F-VF centering, with vertical MISPERFORATION with the design split about 70%-30% (through the S of POSTAGE). A very dramatic misperforation. While misperforations are not considered to be "rarities", they are especially in demand on the Liberty Series. In 52 years, I have not previously been able to offer this particular misperforation.

ACTUAL item.

---

6.00

---

249969

Scott #1281 [1967 3 cent Francis Parkman, Prominent American Series, Sheet Stamp, Tagged] NEVER HINGED with vertical MISPERFORATION splitting the design about 80%-20% resulting in the "3c" being on the left instead of on the right. A very dramatic misperforation. While misperforations are not considered to be "rarities", they are especially in demand on the Prominent American Series. In 52 years, I have not previously been able to offer this particular misperforation, but now from one collection I obtained a NH single and two gum-disturbed horizontal pairs.

ACTUAL item.

12.00

---

EFOs: Errors, Freaks, and Oddities continued ...

Top

Item #

Quality & Description

IMAGES: Hover mouse pointer over image to determine if ACTUAL image of item OR a REPRESENTATIVE sample image of item.
Click for more information

Never
Hinged

US$

Mint
Hinged

US$

Used

US$

249970

Scott #1281 [1967 3 cent Francis Parkman, Prominent American Series, Sheet Stamp, Tagged] Mint with slightly disturbed gum (about the same as lightly hinged). TOP MARGIN HORIZONTAL PAIR, with vertical MISPERFORATION splitting the design about 80%-20% resulting in the "3c" being on the left instead of on the right. A very dramatic misperforation. While misperforations are not considered to be "rarities", they are especially in demand on the Prominent American Series. In 52 years, I have not previously been able to offer this particular misperforation, but now from one collection I obtained a NH single and two gum-disturbed horizontal pairs.

ACTUAL item.

---

15.00

---

249971

Scott #1281 [1967 3 cent Francis Parkman, Prominent American Series, Sheet Stamp, Tagged] Mint with slightly disturbed gum (about the same as lightly hinged). HORIZONTAL PAIR, with vertical MISPERFORATION splitting the design about 80%-20% resulting in the "3c" being on the left instead of on the right. A very dramatic misperforation. While misperforations are not considered to be "rarities", they are especially in demand on the Prominent American Series. In 52 years, I have not previously been able to offer this particular misperforation, but now from one collection I obtained a NH single and two gum-disturbed horizontal pairs.

ACTUAL item.

---

14.00

---

239263

1286 [1967 10 cent Pres. Andrew Jackson, tagged] NH VF full sheet with MISPERFORATION. The vertical perforations are shifted 3-4 mm to the left, cutting off the W and N on the right side of each stamp. The marginal inscriptions (plate number 34348, mail early in the day, and use zip codes) on the left side of the sheet are not in the selvage, but are ON THE RESPECTIVE STAMPS! Unlike coil issues, it is extraordinarily unusual to find sheet stamps with plate numbers actually on the stamp. This misperforation may have affected as few as one printer sheet of 400 (4 panes of 100), in which case only four may have originally existed; because the four sheet positions would thus have been packaged and distributed separately, it is very possible that this is the only remaining example. I have found a few other misperforations of this issue (but none just like this) being offered for $5 to $35 per stamp (none involved the plate number). I believe that the break-up value of this sheet is about $250 for the plate strip of 20 and $5/stamp (perhaps should be $8-10) for the other 80 stamps, totaling $650 break-up value. I offer this full sheet for HALF the break-up value.

ACTUAL item.

325.00

---

249972

Scott #1338A [1969 6 cent Flag Over White House, Coil, Tagged] NEVER HINGED PAIR, with VF centering, with vertical MISPERFORATION splitting the design roughly in half (at the right of the blue field of the flag). The block tagging is correctly aligned on the stamp design. While misperforations are not considered to be "rarities", they are especially in demand when they are so dramatic. In 52 years, I have not previously been able to offer this particular misperforation, but now from one collection I obtained four pairs, one line-3-strip, and one line-4-strip.

ACTUAL item.

SOLD

---

249973

ACTUAL item.

9.00

---

249974

ACTUAL item.

9.00

---

249975

ACTUAL item.

9.00

---

249976

Scott #1338A [1969 6 cent Flag Over White House, Coil, Tagged] LINE 3-STRIP, NEVER HINGED with VF centering. The plate join line is in the center of the 3-strip, with the line faint as usual. Vertical MISPERFORATION splitting the design roughly in half (at the right of the blue field of the flag). The block tagging is correctly aligned on the stamp design. While misperforations are not considered to be "rarities", they are especially in demand when they are so dramatic. In 52 years, I have not previously been able to offer this particular misperforation, but now from one collection I obtained four pairs, one line-3-strip, and one line-4-strip.

ACTUAL item.

22.00

---

249977

Scott #1338A [1969 6 cent Flag Over White House, Coil, Tagged] LINE 4-STRIP, Mint with VF centering. All four stamps have a horizontal glue-line thin (only major on right stamp); this was probably at the beginning of a coil roll where such glue lines were typical. The plate join line is just to the right of the center of the 4-strip, with the line EXTREMELY BOLD, THICK, and DARK -- the boldest I can ever recall seeing even on a normally perforated example. This boldness is quite unusual. Vertical MISPERFORATION splitting the design roughly in half (at the right of the blue field of the flag). The block tagging is correctly aligned on the stamp design. While misperforations are not considered to be "rarities", they are especially in demand when they are so dramatic. In 52 years, I have not previously been able to offer this particular misperforation, but now from one collection I obtained four pairs, one line-3-strip, and one line-4-strip.

ACTUAL item.

---

SOLD

---

249978

Scott #1401 [1970 6 cent Eisenhower, Coil, Shiny Gum, Tagged] NEVER HINGED PAIR with vertical MISPERFORATION splitting the design roughly 10%-90% (through S of EISENHOWER). While misperforations are not considered to be "rarities", dramatic examples such as this are in demand. In 52 years, I have not previously been able to offer this particular misperforation, but now from one collection I obtained two pairs and one 4-strip.

ACTUAL item.

10.00

---

EFOs: Errors, Freaks, and Oddities continued ...

Top

Item #

Quality & Description

IMAGES: Hover mouse pointer over image to determine if ACTUAL image of item OR a REPRESENTATIVE sample image of item.
Click for more information

Never
Hinged

US$

Mint
Hinged

US$

Used

US$

249980

Scott #1401 [1970 6 cent Eisenhower, Coil, Shiny Gum, Tagged] NEVER HINGED 4-STRIP with vertical MISPERFORATION splitting the design roughly 10%-90% (through S of EISENHOWER). While misperforations are not considered to be "rarities", dramatic examples such as this are in demand. In 52 years, I have not previously been able to offer this particular misperforation, but now from one collection I obtained two pairs and one 4-strip.

ACTUAL item.

18.00

---

249979

Scott #1401 [1970 6 cent Eisenhower, Coil, Shiny Gum, Tagged] Mint, lightly hinged, PAIR with vertical MISPERFORATION splitting the design roughly 10%-90% (through S of EISENHOWER). While misperforations are not considered to be "rarities", dramatic examples such as this are in demand. In 52 years, I have not previously been able to offer this particular misperforation, but now from one collection I obtained two pairs and one 4-strip.

ACTUAL item.

---

6.00

---

249981

Scott #1402 [1971 8 cent Eisenhower, Coil, Tagged] NEVER HINGED PAIR with vertical MISPERFORATION splitting the design roughly 10%-90% (through S of USA). While misperforations are not considered to be "rarities", dramatic examples such as this are in demand. In 52 years, I have not previously been able to offer this particular misperforation, but now from one collection I obtained four pairs and two 4-strips.

ACTUAL item.

10.00

---

249985

Scott #1402 [1971 8 cent Eisenhower, Coil, Tagged] NEVER HINGED 4-STRIP with vertical MISPERFORATION splitting the design roughly 10%-90% (through S of USA). While misperforations are not considered to be "rarities", dramatic examples such as this are in demand. In 52 years, I have not previously been able to offer this particular misperforation, but now from one collection I obtained four pairs and two 4-strips.

ACTUAL item.

18.00

---

249986

ACTUAL item.

18.00

---

249982

Scott #1402 [1971 8 cent Eisenhower, Coil, Tagged] Mint, one stamp NH one LH, PAIR with vertical MISPERFORATION splitting the design roughly 10%-90% (through S of USA). While misperforations are not considered to be "rarities", dramatic examples such as this are in demand. In 52 years, I have not previously been able to offer this particular misperforation, but now from one collection I obtained four pairs and two 4-strips.

ACTUAL item.

---

8.00

---

249984

Scott #1402 [1971 8 cent Eisenhower, Coil, Tagged] Mint, one stamp NH, one stamp LH but the LH stamp has a damaged corner, PAIR with vertical MISPERFORATION splitting the design roughly 10%-90% (through S of USA). While misperforations are not considered to be "rarities", dramatic examples such as this are in demand. In 52 years, I have not previously been able to offer this particular misperforation, but now from one collection I obtained four pairs and two 4-strips. Priced only as one NH stamp.

ACTUAL item.

5.00

---

249983

Scott #1402 [1971 8 cent Eisenhower, Coil, Tagged] Mint, heavily disturbed gum, PAIR with vertical MISPERFORATION splitting the design roughly 10%-90% (through S of USA). While misperforations are not considered to be "rarities", dramatic examples such as this are in demand. In 52 years, I have not previously been able to offer this particular misperforation, but now from one collection I obtained four pairs and two 4-strips.

ACTUAL item.

---

4.00

---

239059

Scott #1461a TAGGING OMITTED variety [1972 8c Olympics, Bobsledding] Upper left plate block of ten (plate numbers starting with black: 33331, 33336, 33329, 33328, 33327). NH VF, with only a very tiny spot on the edge of the top selvedge that might even be from the production. Missing-tagging varieties are generally extremely scarce. 2017 Scott has given this one a modest value of $7.50 for a single stamp, but most such items are rarely offered. As a full plate block, this is surely extremely scarce -- it is also a very nice topical item.

ACTUAL item.

65.00

---

239050

Scott #1474 SHIFTED COLORS variety [1972 8c Stamp Collecting] with the two engraved colors (brown Ben Franklin stamp [U.S. #1] and the black magnifying glass) shifted down. The base of the magnifying glass is out in the bottom margin of the stamp. This type of "printing freak" variety is generally limited to only one or a couple sheets of stamps. Though usually not valuable, such items are very interesting. A great coincidence that this variety is on the Stamp Collecting issue! Accompanied by a normal example. NH VF single.

REPRESENTATIVE image of stamp design.

4.50

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EFOs: Errors, Freaks, and Oddities continued ...

Top

Item #

Quality & Description

IMAGES: Hover mouse pointer over image to determine if ACTUAL image of item OR a REPRESENTATIVE sample image of item.
Click for more information

Never
Hinged

US$

Mint
Hinged

US$

Used

US$

239051

ACTUAL item.

7.50

---

239052

ACTUAL item.

7.50

---

239053

ACTUAL item.

13.50

---

239054

ACTUAL item.

15.00

---

239055

Scott #1478 SHIFTED COLORS variety [1973 8c Post Rider] with the three engraved colors (black, red, and blue) all shifted to the right. The black buildings extend off the right side of the stamp. This type of "printing freak" variety is generally limited to only one or a couple sheets of stamps. Though usually not valuable, such items are very interesting. Accompanied by a normal example. NH VF single.

REPRESENTATIVE image of stamp design.

4.50

---

239056

ACTUAL item.

19.50

---

254284

Scott #1579a, 1975 10c Multicolored Madonna Christmas issue, imperforate horizontal pair ERROR. NH VF.

ACTUAL item.

89.00

---

227529

Scott #1617b, 1975 10c Violet Justice imperforate coil pair. NH Fine (which is typical for this error).

ACTUAL item.

49.00

---

241760

Scott #1706-9 [1977 13c Pueblo Pottery, American Folk Art series] NH VF set of four singles with TAGGING VARIETY. The tagging is shifted horizontally about 50% so there is a vertical untagged stripe through the middle of each stamp (they had been attached at one time). Shifted tagging is not so unusual -- and is nearly invisible without a short-wave UV light (this one IS visible in daylight if held at an oblique angle) -- but when it is this extreme, it is collectible if you enjoy such varieties.

ACTUAL item.

5.00

---

249585

Scott #1889a (1880-1889) Booklet Pane with PLATE JOIN LINE [1981 18c American Wildlife set of ten] NH with XF centering -- which is quite unusual for this issue -- with bold vertical line in the left margin which I believe to be a plate join line (the same type of line resulting in coil line pairs). Without binding tab. I have not found this feature mentioned in the catalogs, but I have just suggested to the Scott editors that they consider adding at least a footnote in the catalog, if not a priced listing! A very interesting and little-known variety.

ACTUAL item.

8.00

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EFOs: Errors, Freaks, and Oddities continued ...

Top

Item #

Quality & Description

IMAGES: Hover mouse pointer over image to determine if ACTUAL image of item OR a REPRESENTATIVE sample image of item.
Click for more information

Never
Hinged

US$

Mint
Hinged

US$

Used

US$

238783

Scott #2027-30 COLOR STREAKS [1982 20 cent Christmas Children Playing] NH VF lower left corner margin 6-block with Zip and Copyright marginal imprints. The block shows strong black vertical streaking in the left selvage and light streaking in the left stamps. This streaking typically results from a defective wiper blade or one that is clogged.

ACTUAL item.

5.00

---

237866

2281a [1988 25c Honey Bee coil, IMPERFORATE, small block tagging] NH Superb pair, miscut so that the design just go over the bottom edge. I have been able to find a couple offerings of #2281a, but not any that have been miscut.

ACTUAL item.

38.00

---

238785

Scott #2619 COLOR SMEAR [1992 29 cent Olympic Baseball] NH VF left margin vertical 8-block showing significant excess blue smearing or overwash, stronger on the upper stamps. This type of "freak" usually results from excess ink coverage combined with inadequate plate wiping. Such items are seldom seen, especially on such a strongly topical stamp issue.

ACTUAL item.

6.50

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