Durland Standard Plate Number Catalog

By George V. H. Godin

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0930412222
• ISBN13: 9780930412227
• Release Date: September 1994
• Publisher: Bureau Issues Assn
• Weight: 1.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.3" x 0.8" x 6.3"

Customer Reviews

Durland Standard Plate Number Catalog

The Durland Standard Plate Number Catalog is an amazing book. When it was first published in 1950, it contained just 32 pages and only listed plate numbers used to print selected U. S. postage stamps in the previous 20 years. The original publisher, Clarence Durland, was a stamp dealer who specialized in plate blocks who was proud of his catalogs because they differentiated between the common and rare plate numbers and, more importantly, contained prices that accurately reflected the market values of the various plate numbers and positions. More than three dozen editions of the Durland Catalog have been published since 1950, each one containing more information than the previous. The United States Stamp Society (formally the Bureau Issues Association) has edited and published the catalog since 1984, and through their efforts the catalog now contains 446 pages. It is a carefully prepared analysis forming an authoritative guide to the retail value of specific plate numbers and positions for all U.S. postage stamps (sheet stamps, coil stamps, and booklet stamps) issued from 1851 through 1999. The listings include not only the expected regular issue and commemorative postage stamps, but also air mail, postage due, parcel post, registration, special delivery, special handling, certified mail, official, postal savings, newspaper, and dummy (test) stamps. In addition, there is a revenue stamp section that includes plate number information for documentary, proprietary, future delivery, stock transfer, wine, beer, playing cards, silver tax, cigarette, tobacco, potato, narcotic, consular service, customs, match, medicine, perfume, boating, trailer permit, firearms transfer, and hunting permit stamps. Also included in the catalog are United States stamps that were overprinted for use in various U.S. possessions (Cuba, Canal Zone, Guam, Philippines, and Puerto Rico), Allied Military (AMG) postage stamps, and Confederate stamps. As if all that was not enough, there are sections showing the largest reported percentages for plate numbers on coil and booklet panes, plate numbers known on privately produced vending and affixing machine coils, unreported plate numbers, detailed information about the rotary presses used over the years by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, blue-cover "MDI" booklets, and stamps with plate position diagrams. No other catalog comes close to providing the information this book includes. No serious collector of plate numbers can do without it!