Two Holiday Elves panes found with horizontal die cuts completely imperf between

By Jay Bigalke

Two more error panes of the United States Holiday Elves forever stamps (Scott 5722-5725) have been found.

The U.S. Postal Service issued the four se-tenant (side-by-side) stamps Sept. 15, 2022, in a double-sided pane of 20.

As reported on the front page of the Jan. 30 issue of Linn’s, an error had been discovered among multiple reports of problematic Holiday Elves stamps with shifted die cuts. That error on the 12-stamp side of the pane of 20 was described as “three blocks of four imperforate-between horizontally, with die cuts at bottom.”

And, after that Jan. 30 article, Linn’s received several more reports about additional freak panes. And, once again, a report about errors was among them.

Stamp dealer Mark Eastzer of New York contacted Linn’s in late March to report he had purchased two panes with imperforate-between Holiday Elves stamps.

The 12-stamp side of one of Eastzer’s error panes is pictured nearby. The eight-stamp side is normal.

Eastzer said he purchased the error Holiday Elves panes along with some freak examples from a person who obtained them at an East Coast post office.

There is a gap of approximately 8 millimeters on the vertical die cuts of the error panes. This is likely an indication that the die cut mat shifted dramatically, and the breaks were in between two sections of the die cut mats.

The error shown in the Jan. 30 Linn’s article had horizontal die cuts at the extreme bottom part of the pane. The examples from Eastzer had no horizontal die cuts on the pane.

Scott catalog editors listed a block of four imperforate-between horizontally with die cutting at the bottom as Scott 5725c and the pane of 20 with the 12-stamp side imperforate between as 5725d. These listings appeared in the 2024 Vol. 1 Scott Standard Postage Stamp Catalogue published April 1.

The Scott Specialized Catalogue of United States Stamps and Covers to be published in October will also have this footnote: “Examples of No. 5725c and 5725d are known with die cuts at the very top and very bottom. Examples of Scott 5725c are known with no horiz. die cuts.”

Linn’s is interested in hearing from collectors who might have additional examples of the Holiday Elves forever stamps without horizontal die cuts.

Contact the editorial team at linnseditorial@amosmedia.com or write to us at Linn’s Stamp News, Box 4129, Sidney, OH 45365.

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