2016-10-21 Fri

The 15¢ Type II Oliver Wendell Holmes coil stamp was out for the public in 1979. The sheet stamp Holmes Type I was issued on 8th March 1968 and the booklet version was issued on 14th June 1978. The latter was released secretly and the earliest date was documented as 16th July 1979, as confirmed by Scott, Specialized Catalogue of United States Stamps and Covers.

The Necktie of the Type I stamp only just touches the coat at the bottom with the crosshatching strong and complete. Flag of ‘5’ is completely horizontal. Crosshatching of 15 is colourless when visible.

Necktie of Type II does not touch coat at the bottom. The lower left to upper right crosshatching lines are strong while the upper left to lower right lines are faint. Flag of ‘5’ slants down. Crosshatching of ‘15’ is coloured and visible when magnified.

Type III is used only for 1288B and smaller. The ‘15’ is ¾mm closer to the head.

There was no EDU date listed for the Type II till the latest Scott U.S. Specialized catalogue was issued in 2017.

Experts state that the cover in the picture was sent by U.S. stamp scholar Charles Yeager to another U.S. collector, G. William Patten. The cancellation date is same as the EDU for the Type II sheet stamp – 16th July 1979, and the cover has a written notation Type II mailed 7/16/79.

So now, the catalogue note reads, “Earliest document use: July 16, 1979 (No. 1305Ei).