A Guide to the Washington Franklins

The Washington Franklin Series or the "Series of 1908" as it is known by the USPS, came on the heels of the 1902 Series of regular issues which had received its fair share of criticism for overly ornate designs. One of the great ironies of this series is that the Post Office was actually trying to simplify the designs of the regularly issued stamps to cut down on production costs. Emulating the European use of a single design of an existing monarch's head on many denominations, but having no monarch to call our own, the U.S. Post Office opted for two vignette designs, based on busts of Washington and Franklin.

From these two simple yet elegant designs one will find 220 major and 99 minor stamp varieties as listed in the Scott 2000 Specialized Catalogue of U.S. Stamps and Covers. The use of five design variations, two paper types, two types of watermarked paper as well as unwatermarked paper, three printing methods, a minimum of fourteen distinct perforations or combinations thereof, two overprints, a full spectrum of colors and twenty denominations makes it easy to see how complex this "simplification" turns out to be for the philatelist.

The study of the Washington Franklin stamps has traditionally been an area of some difficulty for many collectors of U.S. stamps. On the other hand collecting the Washington Franklin Heads can be one of the more fascinating areas in all of philately, presenting a wonderful microcosm of the evolution of stamp production in the United States and the world as well. The series has been seperated here into thirteen sections, each highlighting an important change in the way U.S. stamps were made over the fourteen year period from 1908 to 1922.

The 1908 Series: Perf 12, Double-line Watermark, Original Designs, Flat Plate

The 1909 Experiment: The blue papers, an experiment to strengthen the paper, using a higher rag content to reduce shrinkage and waste.

The 1910 Series: The double-line watermarked paper was changed to single-line watermarked paper to strengthen the paper. Less paper removed in the watermarking process was hoped to strengthen the paper and reduce waste.

The 1910 Perf 8½ Coils: An attempt to lessen the separation of stamps in vending machines. The lesser number of holes per inch, as opposed ot the perf 12 coils, was thought to help keep the stamps from separating too easily.

The 1912 Designs: The new designs were to comply with International Postal Union guidelines and to make it easier for postl employees to distinguish varying denominations.

1914: Perf 10 Stamps: The 8.5 gauge perforation experiment resulted in stamps that were too difficult to separate without tearing the stamps themselves. The perforation spacing was narrowed slightly, from 8½ per 2cm to 10 per 2cm, in an attempt to make the stamps easrier to separate and yet not come apart in vending machines.

1915: Rotary Press with Watermark: A faster and more efficient printing method than the traditional flat plate printing method was introduced to make coil stamps. The quality was nearly as good and it enabled the production of rolls of stamps, a must for coil production

1916: Use of Non-watermarked Paper: The use of watermarked paper was an added expense, further, it was felt that the watermarks were difficult to detect and therefore not an effective deterrent to counterfeiters

1916 Rotary Coils on Unwatermarked Paper:

1917 Perf 11 Stamps: The perf 10 stamps still sometimes tore when separating the stamps. The perforation was narrowed even more, although not all the way to the original perf 12 gauge.

1919: Offset Stamps This method was implemented in an effort to eliminate the abrasive effects of the inferior inks available during World War I. By not using engraved plates wear was minimized and the plates lasted longer

1919-1923: Coil and Sheet waste Stamps Several important Washington Franklin stamps were issued from coil waste, sheet waste and as experimental rotary press printings. Many of these have compound perforations.

1919: Offices in Shanghai The U.S. Post Office delivered postage stamps to Shanghai, China and the stamps were subsequently overprinted "Shanghai China" and surcharged at double the original denomination on all values, 1¢ through $1, creating a new set of denominations, 2¢ through $2.