Look for Great Americans John J. Audubon stamp tagging variety

Stamp Market Tips by Henry Gitner and Rick Miller

The U.S. Postal Service’s Great Americans series of 1980-1999 was the definitive workhorse for that period. The 63 stamps in the series honor a variety of well-known and not-so-well-known Americans.

The stamps in this series are quite popular with many collectors, some of whom collect them in full mint never-hinged panes of 100.

Some of the Great Americans stamps are easier to find than others. The 1985 22¢ dark chalky blue John J. Audubon stamp variety with large block tagging and floating plate number on the side (Scott 1863a) — not to be confused with Scott 1863b also with large block tagging, perforated gauge 11.2 with plate number in the corner issued in 1987 — is one of the most difficult to find in full mint panes. We have clients who have been searching for it for years.

If you have access to a lot of material, taking the time to look through it with an ultraviolet light can be rewarding. You might even get lucky and find an unlisted tagging-omitted variety.

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