New tagging-omitted error discovered on U.S. 1986 Ameripex ’86 souvenir sheet

By Charles Snee

A new tagging-omitted error on the fourth United States 1986 Ameripex ’86 souvenir sheet (Scott 2219) has recently come to light.

Stamp dealer and Linn’s Stamp News columnist Wayne L. Youngblood reported the error on April 16 on his online blog, Wayne Youngblood’s Substack.

Shown at left nearby, is a picture of the souvenir sheet that Youngblood took under shortwave ultraviolet light, which makes tagging glow yellow green. For comparison, a souvenir sheet under normal lighting is pictured at right.

The stamps (from top to bottom) picturing presidents Warren G. Harding (Scott 2219a), Franklin D. Roosevelt (2219d) and Dwight D. Eisenhower (2219g) are completely missing the tagging due to a shift of the tagging mat during production.

These stamps are known as tagging-omitted errors in other configurations that are listed in the Scott Specialized Catalogue of United States Stamps and Covers. This is first time that these stamps have been discovered without tagging in the configuration shown at left.

Three other stamps on the error sheet that picture President Calvin Coolidge (Scott 2219b), the White House (2219e) and President John F. Kennedy (2219h) are almost completely untagged.

“A single example of the error [souvenir sheet] was found in a routine lot of discount postage, along with several examples of [the third Ameripex souvenir sheet (Scott 2218)] with a major tagging shift (which is striking, but not quite an error),” Youngblood said on his blog. “Stamps with tagging omitted are considered major printing errors, much as those where a visible color is omitted, but is far less recognized by collectors, since it needs to be examined under UV light to be appreciated.”

Scott catalog editor-in-chief Jay Bigalke said the new tagging-omitted error would be listed as Scott 2219q, “tagging omitted on a, d and g.” The new listing will appear in the 2026 Scott U.S. Specialized catalog that is scheduled for publication in October.

Tagging, which is visible under shortwave ultraviolet light, refers to the phosphor material on stamps used to activate automatic mail-handling equipment.

This may be lines, bars, letters, part of the design area or the entire stamp surface. The tagging may also permeate the stamp paper.

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