From 1880 until JULY 1884, the Special Printing program was continued under the Arthur administration with a series of emissions from the American Bank Note Company. A total of sixteen stamps were printed by American under the program.
The American Special Printings can be distinguished from the Continental Special Printings by the soft, porous paper, which was ungummed. The 2c Brown, 7c, 12c and 24c were never regularly issued on soft paper, so the Special Printings cannot be confused with regular stamps.
In 1882 the 5c Garfield replaced the old 5c Taylor design, resulting in a new stamp (Scott 205) and a new Special Printing (Scott 205C). This Special Printing was the subject of an article by William E. Mooz in the Chronicle (Feb. 1992). Mr. Mooz has a well-reasoned theory that a small delivery of the Special Printing (400 stamps) was available at the offices of the Third Asst. Postmaster General before the stamp was issued. Of these, it is possible that only 100 looked like the 5c Garfield stamps recognized as Special Printings today. Mr. Mooz has offered evidence and analysis to show that the majority of 2,463 5c Garfield stamps sold as Special Printings were regular issues.
The Third Asst. PMG supply records indicate that when the Special Printings program was discontinued in July 1884, 55 copies of the 2c 1883 Special Printing (211B) and 26 copies of the 4c 1883 Special Printing (211D) had been sold. The 2c stamps now classified as Scott 211B actually come from an 1885 steam-press printing and are not the same stamps sold through the Third Asst. PMG. The census figures for Scott 211D pose a true enigma. Only 26 copies of Scott 211D were sold, but 27 different examples are identified in our census (see Appendix, pp. 381-382). Even if one of the stamps is disqualified, a 100% survival rate is extraordinary. The Zoellner copy comes from the fully-authenticated Caspary block, one of two blocks of the 4c Special Printing that existed at one time, but have since been broken into singles.
The table from page 211 is repeated below with the 1880-84 American Special Printings (Scott 205C and 211D) added. The 2c (Scott 211B) is excluded because of the confusion between the Special Printing and the steam-press printing, which makes any census statistics inaccurate.
SPECIAL PRINTING NUMBERSOLD |
1875 CONTINENTAL S.P. |
1880 AMERICAN S.P. |
BOTH |
||||||
| Denomination
&Color (Scott No. for 1875 and) 1880 Printings) |
# Sold |
% of |
# of |
As % of |
As % of |
# of |
As % of |
As % of |
Survival |
| 1c Ultramarine (167/192) | 388 | 9.17 | 40 | 6.86 | 10.31 | 30 | 5.33 | 7.73 | 18.04 |
| 2c Dark Brown (168/193) | 416 | 9.83 | 75 | 12.86 | 18.03 | 55 | 9.77 | 13.22 | 31.25 |
| 3c Blue Green (169/194) | 267 | 6.31 | 40 | 6.86 | 14.98 | 20 | 3.55 | 7.50 | 22.48 |
| 6c Dull Rose (170/195) | 185 | 4.37 | 35 | 6.00 | 18.92 | 30 | 5.33 | 16.22 | 35.14 |
| 7c Reddish Vermilion (171/196) | 473 | 11.18 | 50 | 8.58 | 10.57 | 100 | 17.76 | 21.14 | 31.71 |
| 10c Pale Brown (172/197) | 180 | 4.25 | 40 | 6.86 | 22.22 | 30 | 5.33 | 16.67 | 38.89 |
| 12c Dark Violet (173/198) | 282 | 6.66 | 60 | 10.29 | 21.28 | 75 | 13.32 | 26.60 | 47.88 |
| 15c Bright Orange (174/199) | 169 | 3.99 | 40 | 6.86 | 23.67 | 30 | 5.33 | 17.75 | 41.42 |
| 24c Dull Purple (175/200) | 286 | 6.76 | 90 | 15.44 | 31.47 | 75 | 13.32 | 26.22 | 57.69 |
| 30c Greenish Black (176/201) | 179 | 4.23 | 40 | 6.86 | 22.35 | 40 | 7.10 | 22.35 | 44.70 |
| 90c Violet Carmine (177/202) | 170 | 4.01 | 40 | 6.86 | 23.53 | 40 | 7.10 | 23.53 | 47.06 |
| 2c Carmine Vermilion (180/203) | 917 | 21.68 | 23* | 3.94 | 2.51 | 20* | 3.55 | 2.18 | 4.69 |
| 5c Bright Blue (181/204) | 317 | 7.49 | 10* | 1.71 | 3.15 | 18* | 3.20 | 5.68 | 8.83 |
| Totals | 4229 | 583 | 13.78 | 563 | 13.31 | ||||