Stamps that either have jumbo margins or have XF/Superb centering.
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Lovely stamp!
Columbus.
Enormous jumbo! Parts of adjacent stamps can be seen at top and left.
2006 Philatelic Foundation certificate. The horizontal crease mentioned in the cert is so faint that it can only be seen in liquid. Superb jumbo margins. Truly a gorgeous stamp!
T & Co.
Superb jumbo!
Samuel Dexter Hastings. R5a privately rouletted, on document piece. Unlisted in Scott. Rouletting is visible on all 4 sides of the stamp, with multiple vertical rows.
Stevens Brothers. Manufacturer of stationary and portable steam engines and boilers.
Wells Fargo & Co. Superb example with gigantic jumbo margins and a blue Wells Fargo handstamp cancel.
Nice margins.
Tallant & Co. An example of what I call 'The California Late Imperfs'. Normally imperforates and part perfs with late cancel dates are an immediate red flag for fakery... the one notable exception being a cache/hoard of imperfs that apparently resurfaced from storage late in the taxation period in California, that are legitimate imperforates and part perfs. Normally you don't find imperfs used after 1864, but California examples can be found MUCH later.
M.D.B.
Wells Fargo. Wonderful one-of-a-kind piece! Not only is it a major double transfer (T5), but it is also an R5b that is imperforate vertically rather than horizontally (as with all part perforates, the imperf vertically are far more scarce than imperf horizontally). As of 2025, it is one of only 3 reported examples of the T5 major double transfer on an imperf-vertical R5b. It is on a piece of a Wells Fargo document, with a California state revenue.
Huge jumbo margins.
Large jumbo margins.
Z. P. McMillen. Currently the only reported example of R6e on a photograph. Exceptional color and centering! Ex-Baryla, from his award winning Civil War Sun Tax exhibit.
George Washington Bank.
Scratched plate tailing off the last E in CERTIFICATE.
Bank of Iowa.
J.C. & Co. Superb jumbo margins!
John Wood & Co. Superb jumbo. John Wood was founder of Quincy Il and early land speculator in town. He served as IL governor 1860-1861 (10 months), then was quartermaster for state of Illinois.
Second National Bank. Beautiful XF example with large margins, exhibiting same plate scratch (lower right numeral) as is found on R9c and R10c.
Huge jumbo margins. Part perfs imperforate vertically are considerably more scarce than the normal imperforate horizontally.
Village Bank. Very large top and bottom margins. R9b are actually quite scarce on document.
Superb example.
North Pennsylvania Railroad. Perfectly centered jumbo example with a great handstamp cancel.
Sanford & Hayw???. Nominally illegal use of proprietary type as a documentary. Very scarce and exceptional centering.
Superb example!
Huge jumbo example of R13c on a CDV from an unknown photographer.
Whitney & Beckwith. Courtesy of Bruce Baryla — This 'Skull and Bones' handstamp was known to collectors of fancy handstamps by its appearance as a 'sender's mark' on covers mailed in 1857 by the 'Society of Twenty-Two,' a Yale University based fraternal group associated with the famous Skull and Bones Society.
This same handstamp was used years later as a stamp canceling device. As it turns out, the secretary of the 'Society of Twenty-Two' in 1857 was Robert A. Beckwith. He became a photographer and co-owner of the Whitney & Beckwith studio — and he repurposed the handstamp from his college days to cancel revenue stamps.
See this blog entry for other examples with different portions of the cancel.
Jeremiah Gurney. A huge jumbo of a stamp.
Stamp from Bedford Plate 2B study, slight doubling top left to top, left side to left, and bottom to bottom left. Superbly centered stamp.
Nice jumbo margins.
Deep rich color.
Absolutely gorgeous jumbo, with margins much larger than normally found.
Very scarce unlisted double transfer, commonly referred to as 'Eggs North', the outlines of the numeral ovals are offset to the north. There is also an 'Eggs West' double transfer with the ovals offset to the west, although it is not as bold.
S.B. & Co.
The 4-cent Playing Cards is almost universally found faulty or poorly centered. Finding one that is sound and perfectly centered is virtually impossible.
G B & C ???. Just a gorgeous stamp and cancel with wonderful color contrast. Company unattributed. Double transfer at lower right.
Jumbo margins. Several silk threads viewable on the face of the stamp.
Raymonds Insurance Agency. Horizontal pair.
Jumbo margins with partial margin imprint at bottom.
John N. Stearns. Clerk of the Supreme Court of the State of New York.
Very common stamp with low catalog value (the catalog value quoted above is for a block of 4 + a pair). However, given the normal poor quality control and centering found on these, the centering of the stamps in this block is actually superb.
D. A. A. Prothonotary of the District Court of Philadelphia.
New London Northern Railroad Co.
Farmers and Mechanics Bank.
State Bank of Michigan.
Edward Atkinson. Treasurer for cotton mills.
Huge jumbo margins!
Jumbo margins. Embossed cancel and preprint paper fold.
Jumbo margins. Also has a scratched plate at right, unlisted in Scott.
Manuscript and embossed cancels.
A. M. F. Gianelli. 1998 APEX certificate. AMFG = Seller of Italian bitters. This is an lovely example of R31c, which is is almost universally found faulty and poorly centered. The Scott catalog states 'Nearly all examples of No. R31 are faulty and poorly centered. The catalogue value is for a fine centered stamp with minor faults which do not detract from its appearance.'
Moses, Taylor & Co.
R.C. Clark & Co.
Dehon, Clark & Bridges.
Macondray & Co. Commission house.
H. S. & Co.
Ex-Morrissey.
Uncanceled with almost full original gum. I can count the number of true unused 1st issue imperfs with full or partial gum I have ever seen on one hand. Most 1st issue revenues sold as 'mint' or 'unused' are simply uncanceled stamps that have been sweated or soaked from documents. I have quite a few perforated 1st issue revenues with gum, but this is the only imperf.
Faulty, but ginormous jumbo margins. Great appearance.
Gorgeous jumbo margins and well centered.
Vertical strip of 3.
Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad.
B. B. & Co.
Bering Brothers & Co.
Charles Luling & Co. 2006 Philatelic Foundation certificate. Graded XF 90.
Arkell, Tufts & Co. Ship brokers. Very scarce cancel. The cancel from this company that is normally found contains a 5-pointed star at center, whereas this earlier cancel has an 8-pointed star within the ring of the cancel.
Vertical pair. Horizontal crease at top, but look at those jumbo margins!
Superb margins all the way around!
B. H. & Co.
Terre Haute & Richmond Railroad Co. Great SON handstamp on a stock certificate from the Terre Haute & Richmond Railroad.
George Washington Insurance Company. Tolman G-2a.
Incredible 3-margin jumbo.
Jumbo margins at left and right with a margin imprint capture at left. There is a double transfer in the lettering of the imprint, which occurred when they erased the Butler & Carpenter imprint and replaced it with the Joseph R. Carpenter imprint.
Superb example with jumbo margins.
Superb jumbo-margin example. Appears to possibly have a doubled frameline at bottom.
Gorgeous vertical pair with striking early-use cancel.
Citizens Fire Insurance Co. Tolman C-20b.
Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance Co. Tolman C-51b.
W.D. Sherrerd. Just a gorgeous example of a steel die oval handstamp cancel.
Charles Taylor. Superb margins.
Top margin example.
Amazing margins, but the tear at bottom right is a travesty.
Nice jumbo margins.
Jumbo!!
Drexel & Co. Huge margins.
Tradesman's Bank. 2013 Philatelic Foundation certificate. Exceptional margins, and one of very few examples with a handstamped cancel. The cancel company and exact date are identical to the stamp on Philatelic Foundation certificate 179017.
Bottom margin example.
Jumbo.
3 huge jumbo margins.
Charles Taylor. Impossible date on the cancel (Oct. 1, 1862 is when the tax went into effect). Most likely someone accidentally put in an incorrect final digit in the date slug.
Circuit Court of Marion County. Court summons. Absolutely superb centering!
Interesting APPRAISER'S STORE single-line handstamp cancel.
W.S. Dunham, General Agent.
Superb jumbo example.
C. Marti & Co. Beautiful European style oval cancel.
Nice left margin example.
One-of-a-kind jumbo right sheet margin example showing portions of the next stamp at top and left.
Lovely horizontal pair.
W.D. Sherrerd & Co.
Superb example with an early use date.
McA. & W.
Perforation error resulting in part of the stamp below being included.
This is by far the biggest jumbo of R65c I have ever seen. If not for the pinholes, this would be a candidate for PSE or PF grading.
New York Central Railroad.
L.E.A & Co.
Thomas N. Dale & Co.
Exceptional margins and bright color!
Curtis & Peabody. Partial margin imprint. Sir Curtis Lamson and George Peabody. They ran a Shipping Firm and were backed by Urial Atwood Murdock, the President of the Continental National Bank, who also sold railroad nails (skipes) at a 200% profit.
A. & W. Sprague. Textile mill.
Charles Luling & Co.
Absolutely huge margins and well centered. R78c—R80c are notoriously difficult to find well centered, as they were printed very close together.
Miller & Houghton.
J.G. Shepherd & T. Menzies. One of the California late imperf usages (normally a date this late would be a red flag for a trimmed stamp, but late date cancels used on imperfs in California are a known legitimate usage). Agents for the Bank of North America.
2010 Weiss certificate.
Horizontal pair.
Holliday's Cove Railroad Co. Absolutely superb. The Tolman listing example.
Wed. W. Clarke & Co. Oil refinery.
Absolutely massive margins.
Just absolutely gorgeous!
Margins beyond compare! The largest jumbo of a perforated issue I have ever seen.
Merrimac Manufacturing Co.
Huge margins; too bad it's a cut cancel. Catalogue value shown is for cut cancel.
Cheap stamp, but superb example.
Just 1 margin away from being a once in a lifetime specimen. Still not too shabby.
Exceptional margins!
Superb example with jumbo margins. Just the faintest trace of a blue handstamp cancel.
Odells & Mills. Superb example of a VERY difficult stamp. Large margins, sound, and with two crisp cancel strikes. Ex-Morrissey.
Perfectly sound example with great margins and very fresh appearance.
Foregn entry, design of 70c at top. Excellent margins.
Absolutely superb jumbo example.
2011 APEX certificate. Nice centering and very fresh color.
3 gargantuan margins. Imagine if the top margin were the same!
Foreign entry, design of $1. Ex-Morrissey. The finest centered example I have ever seen.
Simply superb. The $1.30, $1.60, and $1.90 denominations are virtually never found with aesthetically pleasing handstamp cancels. Ex-Morrissey.
Cut cancel but wonderfully centered.
Superb jumbo example!
Huge jumbo margins.
Absolutely superb jumbo!
H. L. Routh & Sons.
Absolutely ginormous jumbo margins.
Horizontal strip of 5. I don't normally go after multiples or play the '11th largest known multiple' game, but I made an exception for this piece. Even though it is the 3rd largest reported multiple (there is one block of 6 and one strip of 6), the quality of the individual stamps in this strip is MUCH nicer than those other multiples, with each stamp having centering well clear of the perforations, but also there is a margin imprint capture at lower right. Ex-Morrissey.
Largest jumbo I have seen of this stamp with three large margins. Unfortunately the top-to-bottom centering precludes grading.
Pacific Mail Steamship Co. Beautiful stamp with large XF margins, featuring 3 strikes of a very scarce handstamp cancel from the Pacific Mail Steamship Co. ship 'HENRY CHAUNCEY'.
Pacific Mail Steamship Co. Wonderful stamp exhibiting six strikes from the Pacific Mail steamship 'Rising Star'.
Perfectly balanced jumbo margins.
2012 PSAG certificate. Gorgeous jumbo margins.
Oversized jumbo margins.
Inverted center. Four-margin examples are difficult to find; most examples are considerably off-center.
Very difficult to find R189 uncut and with nice aesthetics.
Listed as a tripled surcharge, but I believe this is actually a quadrupled surcharge, which is unlisted. The discolored strip across the center is actually water-soluble varnish, an anti-reuse measure.
Very nice mint full-gum example of a double impression.
2004 Philatelic Foundation certificate.
Large jumbo margins.
T. S. Sanderson.
2001 Philatelic Foundation certificate. Ex-Scarsdale.
Nice top margin copy.
Full OG. Absoolutely gorgeous!
Victor E. Mauger.
2007 Philatelic Foundation certificate. Ex-Scarsdale.
Lovely example of the double impression. All examples I have found images of have this exact same cancel and date.
Bottom margin plate block of 4. Catalog value is from the 2016 Durland catalog.
South Carolina Rail Road. Railroad scrip taxed as drafts.
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