The 1895 Bureau Series
Watermarked Double Lined letters - USPS
Ulysses S Grant (biography)
5¢ - Dull brown
or claret brown
Scott #270 - Double line USPS wmk. - 1895
Value
Used: $0.50
No postmark with gum (MH): $6-$24
Full perfect gum, no postmark, no trace of stamp hinge mark (MNH): $30-$55
Issued: June 11th, 1895, earliest recorded date of use, September 12th, 1895.
Plate Size: Sheets of 400 subjects (4 panes of 100)
Printer: The Bureau of Printing and Engraving
Quantity Issued: 120,000,000. The number is great than the 3¢, 4¢ or 6¢ as the foreign mail rate at the time was 5¢.
DETAILED FACTS AND FIGURES
The Post Office report from 1899 supplies one with almost every detail you would wish to know about this stamp,
and every other stamp in this series. The level of detail is amazing.
Click here for more on this report.
The stamps were watermarked USPS and part of one of the three letters will be visible
(sometimes barely so) when immersing the stamp in watermark fluid using a simple black watermark tray.
By the way, you really have to believe you have got a valuable stamp before investing the $20 it costs
to buy the afore mentioned items. You could use the cheaper alternative, Ronosol Lighter fluid, however, unlike
watermark fluid, it is highly inflammable and dangerous to use, plus it stinks the house up.
The watermark will appear as part of the letters above.
A double lined letters USP. If there is no watermark then
go here and if there are no triangles in the corner (see below)
then go here.
As this was the Bureau of Printing and Engraving contract a small triangle was cut into
the design at top left and top right. This distinguishes it from the earlier 1890 series.
#255 is different from the rest of the 1894 Bureau's in that its triangle is cut smaller, see the
illustration above, where I have compared the size of a 2¢ 1894 triangle with the 5¢. Also,
as shown below, there is one less line between the white oval outer border above the words STATES and the
edge of the design, as seen in the comparison between the 3¢ and 5¢ above.
Contrary to the paucity of photographs of Lincoln, Ulysses S Grant has over 300 photographs of him.
Many of them whilst a Civil War General. The design was based off this photograph.
Unadopted Vignette for #270
255-E1
Large die essay on India
Affixed to card
255-E2
Large die essay on India
Affixed to card
255-E3
Composite Essay on India, cut close mounted on card.
The second subject for the design called for a portrait of William Seaward.
This was as close as he ever got to being on a postage
stamp. In the end he was selected for the Revenue stamp.
255-P1
Die Proof on India
255 P2
Small Die Proof
255-TC1
Die Trial Color Proof on India
Plate proof on stamp paper (270P4)
270SO
UPU overprint
MH value - $50