Misperfed American Architecture series stamps

U.S. Stamp Notes — By John M. Hotchner

The two misperforated stamps of the 1979-82 American Architecture series shown nearby appear to be color errors because of the perforations leaving out the red text under the black architectural wonders pictured in black. The normal stamps (18¢ New York University Library by Stanford White, Scott 1928; and 20¢ Illinois Institute of Technology by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, 2020) are shown for comparison.

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Would you say that one or both of the misperforated stamps are true errors? If not, are both just freaks? Look carefully.

If fact, the 18¢ New York University Library stamp is an error. There is not a trace of the red brown below the building.

However, the 20¢ Illinois Institute of Technology stamp is a freak. Look below the building, and you will see that there are traces of the red lettering in the perforations. It isn’t much, but it is enough to disqualify the stamp as a true error.