1938 #805 1 1/2c Martha Washington with Brooklyn, NY Precancel Plate Block of 4 from Sheet

Get Your Plate Block of 4 Precancelled Martha Washington Stamps – Intended for Use from Brooklyn, New York

This 1 1/2¢ stamp (US #805) was precanceled for use by mass mailers sending mail from Brooklyn, New York.  The block of four includes the printing plate number, making it a plate block.  The stamp would have been used to pay the 3...  more

Get Your Plate Block of 4 Precancelled Martha Washington Stamps – Intended for Use from Brooklyn, New York

This 1 1/2¢ stamp (US #805) was precanceled for use by mass mailers sending mail from Brooklyn, New York.  The block of four includes the printing plate number, making it a plate block.  The stamp would have been used to pay the 3^rd class rate per ounce or the 4^th class book rate per pound.  This was one of over 300 cities that had precancels for this stamp.

The US Post Office authorized precancelling stamps in 1887.  The department realized it was less expensive to cancel a sheet of 100 stamps at once rather than having a postal clerk cancel each stamp on an envelope.  The first precancelled stamps were prepared by local postmasters.  In 1903, the Post Office Department began requiring the precancel to be two horizontal bars with the name of the city and state between them.  Beginning in the 1910s, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing distributed precancelling devices to interested post offices to make the precancels more consistent.

This plate block of four Martha Washington precancelled stamps would be a neat addition to your plate block collection or as an additional variety to your Martha Washington stamp. 

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