Washington Head
Denomination in Numerals
"2 CENTS"
Flat Plate Perf 11

Type Check - The flat plate, perf 11 stamp can be either of two types, Type I or IA. 

See also:
 Identification guide for the Flat Plate and Rotary 2c (Types: I, IA, II, and III) 

Caution

Scott 461 is often faked, only an estimated 90,000 stamps were issued. Many of these were used for postage and looking like the common stamp of the day, discarded. If you should run across a watermarked copy of the perf 11 stamp while sifting through a mixture of Scott 499s, the stamp should be treated with suspicion since there are so many fakes of this stamp. A very passable fake can be made by perforating the imperforate Scott 409, since the design features (Type I), the watermark (single-line), and the printing methods (Flat Plate) are identical to the Scott 461. As a matter of fact Scott 461 was actually an experimental printing using the 11 gauge perforation on the imperforate (Scott 409) stock. Attempts have been made to add a fake watermark to the common Scott 499 by embossing the stamp. 

Scott 500 is occasionally faked by altering the Type I  design to look like the Type Ia design. 

Both Scott 461 and Scott 500 should be certified before buying or selling.

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