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SET V - The New Designs - Perf 12 - Single-line Watermark of 1912
At first glance, it may seem that the driving force behind the new designs of 1912 was the desire to adhere to the Universal Postal Union's set of rules stating that
denominations of stamps should be in Arabic numerals. Since the UPU's request was made in 1874, it seems unlikely that this was the overriding factor in the design change. More likely would be the fact that many of the denominations had a similar enough color to cause confusion, resulting in the use of improper postage. We have seen one example in which the 8¢ light (olive) green stamp was confused with the green 1c stamp! Particularly unusual since the 1¢ had Franklin on the design and the 8¢ had Washington!
Another suggestion of the Universal Postal Union was a set of easily distinguished colors, one for each denomination. Killing two birds with one stone, the Post Office issued a slightly altered set of colors to match the UPU's guidelines and eliminated the lettered numerals while maintaining the two designs of Washington and Franklin intact. They were printed on the same single-line watermarked paper stock of Set III, Scott 374-382 and perforated 12.
The Set V 1¢ and 2¢ stamps are listed as Scott numbers 405 and 406.Since the 3¢ through 6¢ stamps of this set were identical in all respects to the corresponding Set III stamps, Scott 376-379 respectively, they were not given a separate catalog listing. In addition, five new denominations were issued to meet varying needs, the 7¢, 9¢, 12¢, 20¢ and 30¢ stamps, and the 13¢ stamp was eliminated. The new seven cent denomination stamp, using the Washington head design and issued in black, is listed as Scott number 407.
The eight cent through one dollar stamps were issued using the Franklin head design and are listed as Scott numbers 414 through 423. Please note that the fifty cent stamp issued during this period, listed as Scott number 422,used the existing double-line USPS watermark stock of Scott 341. The fifty cent stamp was also issued on the newer single-line USPS watermark paper stock and is listed as Scott number 421. The one dollar stamp of this set was only issued using the old double-line USPS watermark stock, and is listed as Scott number 423.
Set V Imperforates: Two imperforate stamps were issued using the new designs on single-line watermarked paper stock, the one cent and two cent varieties, and are listed as Scott numbers 408 and 409. These imperforate stamps were issued to companies that were privately perforating coil stamps for a profit. They were also available at the various Post Offices and were collected by philatelists in large enough numbers that these issues are quite common today. Used copies are most often found with private perforations.
Next: Set VI
Perf 10 - Single-line Watermark of 1914
A Guide to the Washington Franklins 1908 · 1909 · 1910 · 1910 Perf 8.5 · 1914 · 1915 · 1916 · 1916 Coils · 1917 · 1918 · 1919 · 1919 Shanghai