20¢ Fire Pumper (BEP)
Water-Activated Coils of 100, 500 and 3000
Scott# 1908 Plate # 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16
Scott# 1908a Plate # 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 9, 10, 15, 16 (Imperf)
Scott# 1908b Plate # 5, 6, 8, 9, 13 (Tagging omitted) / Plate # 5, 6 (Miscut Split Number & Tagging Omitted)
Cottrell Plate Pairings
and Roll Sizes Found
1/2 (100, 500, 3K); 1/5 (100); 3/4 (500, 3K); 5/6 (100, 500, 3K); 5/13 (3K); 
7/8 (100, 500, 3K); 9/10 (500/3K); 11/13 (100/500); 12/14 (3K); 15/16 (100, 500)
Purple Machine Cancel Plate # 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16
PMC Tagging Omitted Plate # 5, 6, 8
Series Transportation
Issue Date & City December 10, 1981, Alexandria, Virginia
Nationwide Sale December 11, 1981
Designer James Schleyer, Burke, Virginia
Art Director Jack Williams (USPS)
Typographer Bradbury Thompson (CSAC)
Modeler Clarence Holbert (BEP)
Engravers Kenneth Kipperman, vignette, Robert G. Culin, Sr., lettering (Both BEP)
To Press / Initial Quantity November 1981 /  426,100,000
Coil Size 100, 500, 3000
Printer Bureau of Engraving and Printing, Washington, DC
Press Cottrell
Process Intaglio
Where Printed Bureau of Engraving and Printing, Washington, DC
Where Processed Bureau of Engraving and Printing, Washington, DC
Plate Size & Interval 864 stamps per revolution with two plates of 18 x 24 / plate # every 24 stamps
Paper & Gum Type I, Water-Activated
Tagging Type Overall
Perf Gauge 9.8 Vertically
Color Vermillion
Overall Size apx. 0.87 x 0.96 in. / 22.1 x 24.4 mm
Earliest Known Use December 10, 1981
Note: There are joint lines on the right side of the plate number stamp on this printing.
Note: In September, 2014, a plate pairing of 9 and 10 was found on a coil of 500.
Varieties: Several different gripper cracks. Chill roll doubling on some stamps of the 5 and 13 pairing.

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Updated - March 22, 2015