A Stickney Rotary Press Machine

The rotary plates were used in 1910 on an experimental basis, no stamps were issued from this test. 1914 saw the first use of the Rotary plates for production. The rotary plates were flat plates that were curved in order to fit the rotary machine. The plates were 10 stamps wide by 15 stamps high. Two pairs of these plates resulted in 340 coil stamps with each printing. Curving the plate increased the height of the stamp from 22 1/4 mm that flat plates produce to a slightly higher 23mm. Where the two plates join a thin line of color lies between the stamps, this is known as a line pair and command a price premium.

Collectors often find these items and are puzzled as to what they are. These were created in 1910 for use in experimenting with the new rotary press which was to be used for coil stamps. There was some thought for using these as full sheet trials but this was discarded as it was a bit too much to take on at the time. The imperforates were created in 3 x 2 or 1 x 3 configurations. The perforated 12 were created in strips of vertical three (some with a straight edge at the top) and the perforated 10 were created in two pairs perforated horizontally.