Identification Guide for One Cent United States Postage Stamps
a service of

V. F. Thomas Co. - P. O. Box 400 - Southwest Harbor, ME 04679
info@vfthomas.com - 207-266-5748

(updated 17 June 2013)


Welcome to the online identification guide for one cent United States postage stamps.

Purpose of this web page: The purpose of this web page is to help you identify the Scott number for one cent United States postage stamps.

How to contribute: Feedback about this page is welcomed and should be e-mailed to info@vfthomas.com or sent by traditional mail to U.S. Postage Stamp Identifier, c/o V. F. Thomas Co.; P. O. Box 400; Southwest Harbor, ME 04679.





There are 142 United States postage stamps with a denomination of one cent. You can determine which one you have by comparing your stamp with the images below and then reading what is printed to the right of the matching image. Sometimes that will involve working your way from left to right in a table.


Benjamin Franklin
designs A5, A6, A7, A8, A9, and A20
These designs are so similar that only one example is pictured here. 		Based on the Scott Specialized Catalogue descriptions below, determine which type your stamp is. Then turn to the table at the right.

   Type I - "Has a curved line outside the labels with 'U.S. Postage' and 'One Cent.' The scrolls below the lower label are turned under, forming little balls. The scrolls and outer line at top are complete."
   Type Ia - "Same as I at bottom but top ornaments and outer line at top are partly cut away."
   Type Ib - "Same as I but balls below the bottom label are not so clear. The plume-like scrolls at bottom are not complete."
   Type II - "The little balls of the bottom scrolls and the bottoms of the lower plume ornaments are missing. The side ornaments are complete."
   Type III - "The top and bottom curved lines outside the labels are broken in the middle. The side ornaments are complete."
   Type IIIa - "Similar to III with the outer line broken at top or bottom but not both."
   Type IV - "Similar to II, but with the curved lines outside the labels recut at top or bottom or both."
   Type V - "Similar to type III ... but with side ornaments partly cut away."
imperf. type I - Your stamp is Scott #5 [rare]
type Ia - Your stamp is Scott #6 [rare]
type Ib - Your stamp is Scott #5A [rare]
type II - Your stamp is Scott #7
Type III - Your stamp is Scott #8 [rare]
Type IIIa - Your stamp is Scott #8A
type IV - Your stamp is Scott #9
perf. 12 - Your stamp is Scott #40 [not valid for postal use, 3846 issued]
perf. 151/2 type I - Your stamp is Scott #18
type Ia - Your stamp is Scott #19 [rare]
type II - Your stamp is Scott #20
type III - Your stamp is Scott #21 [rare]
type IIIa - Your stamp is Scott #22
type IV - Your stamp is Scott #23
type V - Your stamp is Scott #24




Benjamin Franklin
design A24
without grill paper and gum not as below - Your stamp is Scott #63
hard, white paper with white, crackly gum - Your stamp is Scott #102 [rare, 3195 issued]
with grill 11 x 14 mm, 13 or 14 x 18 points - Your stamp is Scott #85A [rare, only 2 known]
11 x 13 mm, 14 or 15 x 17 points - Your stamp is Scott #86
9 x 13 mm, 11 or 12 x 15–17 points - Your stamp is Scott #92



[image to be acquired]
Benjamin Franklin
design A34
without grill hard, white paper with white, crackly gum - Your stamp is Scott #123
soft, porous paper - Your stamp is Scott #133
with grill - Your stamp is Scott #112




Franklin
designs A44, A44a, and A44b
These designs are so similar that only one example is pictured here. 		Based on the images and descriptions from the Scott Specialized Catalogue below, determine which design your stamp is. Then turn to the table at the right.

design A44 (feature 1)
   
   no mark in "pearl" at left of "1"

design A44 (feature 2)
   
   no shading lines in "arabesques" [right hand one shown]

design A44a
   
   mark in "pearl" at left of "1"

design A44b
   
   shading lines in "arabesques" [right hand one shown]
design A44 with grill grill 11–13 x 14–16 points - Your stamp is Scott #134
grill 10 or 11 x 10–13 points - Your stamp is Scott #134A
without grill - Your stamp is Scott #145
design A44a white wove paper, thin to thick; ultramarine - Your stamp is Scott #156
hard, white wove paper; without gum; ultramarine - Your stamp is Scott #167 [rare]
soft, porous paper; dark ultramarine - Your stamp is Scott #182
soft, porous paper; without gum; dark ultramarine - Your stamp is Scott #192 [rare, 388 issued]
design A44b Your stamp is Scott #206




Benjamin Franklin
design A59
Your stamp is Scott #212




Benjamin Franklin
design A60
Your stamp is Scott #219




Columbus in sight of land
design A71
perf. 12 - Your stamp is Scott #230
perf. 101/2 - Your stamp is Scott #2624a




Franklin
design A87
ultramarine - Your stamp is Scott #246
blue unwatermarked - Your stamp is Scott #247
double-line watermarked - Your stamp is Scott #264
deep green - Your stamp is Scott #279




Marquette on the Mississippi
design A100
dark yellow-green - Your stamp is Scott #285
green and black - Your stamp is Scott #3209a




fast lake navigation
design A109
perf. 12 - Your stamp is Scott #294
perf. 121/2 x 12, reproduction of Scott #294a [with inverted center] - Your stamp is Scott #3505a




Benjamin Franklin
design A115
perf. 12 - Your stamp is Scott #300
perf. 12 vert. - Your stamp is Scott #318
perf. 12 horiz. - Your stamp is Scott #316
imperf. - Your stamp is Scott #314




Louisiana Purchase Exposition
design A130
Your stamp is Scott #323




Jamestown Exposition
design A135
Your stamp is Scott #328




Benjamin Franklin
design A138
perf. 12 single-line watermark - Your stamp is Scott #374
double-line watermark white paper - Your stamp is Scott #331
bluish paper - Your stamp is Scott #357
perf. 12 vert. single-line watermark - Your stamp is Scott #387
double-line watermark - Your stamp is Scott #352
perf. 12 horiz. single-line watermark - Your stamp is Scott #385
double-line watermark - Your stamp is Scott #348
perf. 81/2 vert. - Your stamp is Scott #392
perf. 81/2 horiz. - Your stamp is Scott #390
imperf. single-line watermark - Your stamp is Scott #383
double-line watermark - Your stamp is Scott #343




George Washington
design A140
perf. 121/2 - Your stamp is Scott #536
perf. 12 - Your stamp is Scott #405
perf. 12 x 10 - Your stamp is Scott #423A [rare]
perf. 11 gray-green - Your stamp is Scott #525
green flat plate - Your stamp is Scott #498
rotary press design 19 x 22.5 mm - Your stamp is Scott #544 [rare]
design 19.5–20 x 22 mm - Your stamp is Scott #545
perf. 11 x 10 - Your stamp is Scott #538
perf. 10 x 12 - Your stamp is Scott #423D [rare]
perf. 10 x 11 - Your stamp is Scott #542
perf. 10 single-line watermark - Your stamp is Scott #424
unwatermarked rotary press (design 19 x 22.5 mm) - Your stamp is Scott #543
flat plate - Your stamp is Scott #462
perf. 10 vert. single-line watermark rotary press (design 19.5–20 x 22 mm) - Your stamp is Scott #452
flat plate - Your stamp is Scott #443
unwatermarked - Your stamp is Scott #490
perf. 10 horiz. unwatermarked - Your stamp is Scott #486
single-line watermark flat plate - Your stamp is Scott #441
rotary press (design 18.5–19 x 22.5 mm) - Your stamp is Scott #448
perf. 81/2 vert. - Your stamp is Scott #412
perf. 81/2 horiz. - Your stamp is Scott #410
imperf. single-line watermark - Your stamp is Scott #408
unwatermarked flat plate - Your stamp is Scott #481
offset - Your stamp is Scott #531




Panama-Pacific Exposition
design A144
perf. 12 - Your stamp is Scott #397
perf. 10 - Your stamp is Scott #401




Pilgrim Tercentenary
design A151
Your stamp is Scott #548




Benjamin Franklin
design A155
overprinted "Kans." - Your stamp is Scott #658
overprinted "Nebr." - Your stamp is Scott #669
no overprint perf. 11 flat plate (design 18.5–19 mm x 22 mm) - Your stamp is Scott #552
rotary press design 19.75 x 22.25 mm - Your stamp is Scott #594 [rare]
design 19.25 x 22.5 mm - Your stamp is Scott #596 [rare]
perf. 11 x 101/2 - Your stamp is Scott #632
perf. 11 x 10 - Your stamp is Scott #578
perf. 10 - Your stamp is Scott #581
perf. 10 vert. - Your stamp is Scott #597
perf. 10 horiz. - Your stamp is Scott #604
imperf. - Your stamp is Scott #575




Huguenot-Walloon Tercentenary
design A178
Your stamp is Scott #614




Lexington-Concord
design A181
Your stamp is Scott #617




Washington Bicentennial
design A211
Your stamp is Scott #705




Chicago century of progress
design A231
perf. 101/2 x 11 - Your stamp is Scott #728
imperf. - Your stamp is Scott #730a or 766a
Imperforate singles with this design may be Scott #730a (from Scott #730, the American Philatelic Society souvenir sheet) or Scott #766a (from a Farley special printing). The only way to be sure that a stamp is #766a is when it is one of a pair of stamps that has a gutter between them.




Yosemite
design A239
perf. 11 - Your stamp is Scott #740
imperf. - Your stamp is Scott #751a, 756, or 769a
Imperforate singles with this design may be Scott #751a (from Scott #751, the Trans-Mississippi Philatelic Exposition souvenir sheet), or Scott #756a or #769a (from Farley special printings Scott #756 and #769, respectively). The only way to be sure that a stamp is Scott #756a is when it is one of a pair of stamps that has a line between them. The only way to be sure that a stamp is Scott #769a is when it is one of a pair that has a gutter between them.




Washington and Greene
design A258
Your stamp is Scott #785




Jones and Barry
design A263
Your stamp is Scott #790




George Washington
design A276
perf. 11 x 101/2 - Your stamp is Scott #804
perf. 10 vert. - Your stamp is Scott #839
perf. 10 horiz. - Your stamp is Scott #848




Washington Irving
design A318
Your stamp is Scott #859




Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
design A323
Your stamp is Scott #864




Horace Mann
design A328
Your stamp is Scott #869




John James Audubon
design A333
Your stamp is Scott #874




Stephen Collins Foster
design A338
Your stamp is Scott #879




Gilbert Charles Stuart
design A343
Your stamp is Scott #884




Eli Whitney
design A348
Your stamp is Scott #889




for defense: industry-agriculture
design A358
Your stamp is Scott #899




four freedoms: freedom of speech and religion, from want and fear
design A367
Your stamp is Scott #908




Roosevelt - Hyde Park
design A377
Your stamp is Scott #930




Washington
design A478
perf. 11 x 101/2 - Your stamp is Scott #1031
perf. 10 vert. - Your stamp is Scott #1054




A. Lincoln
design A559
Your stamp is Scott #1113




Andrew Jackson
design A646
perf. 11 x 101/2 - Your stamp is Scott #1209
perf. 10 vert. - Your stamp is Scott #1225




Thomas Jefferson
design A710
perf. 11 x 101/2 - Your stamp is Scott #1278
perf. 10 vert. - Your stamp is Scott #1299




the ability to write - a root of democracy
design A984
perf. 11 x 101/2 - Your stamp is Scott #1581
perf. 10 vert. - Your stamp is Scott #1811




Dorothea Dix
design A1231
Your stamp is Scott #1844




Omnibus 1880s; USA 1c
design A1283
Your stamp is Scott #1897




Margaret Mitchell
design A1551
Your stamp is Scott #2168




Omnibus 1880s; 1 USA
design A1604a
Your stamp is Scott #2225




American Kestrel; USA 01
design A1840
Your stamp is Scott #2476




American Kestrel; USA 1¢
design A1841
perforated 11.2 - Your stamp is Scott #2477
93/4 vert. - Your stamp is Scott #3044
serpentine die cut 1999; "American Kestrel" in black - Your stamp is Scott #3031
2000; "American Kestrel" in blue - Your stamp is Scott #3031A




Tiffany Lamp
design A2866
serpentine die cut 11 - Your stamp is Scott #3749
perf. 10 vert. - Your stamp is Scott #3758