Tulip Blossoms coil stamps present collecting challenge

US Stamps

By Marty Frankevicz

The United States Tulip Blossoms coil forever stamps released April 5 presented a challenge for the Scott catalog editors in trying to figure out how to collect a plate number strip of an issue that does not follow precedents set by previous coil issues. A similar challenge occurred with the Wild Orchids coil stamps of Feb. 21, 2020 (Scott 5435-5444).

Ten different Tulip Blossoms coil stamps were issued, and the plate number ("B" followed by four single digits) appears on every 27th stamp, which depicts the pink and yellow tulip.

Because of this, Tulip Blossoms coils of 3,000 or 10,000 do not have 10 stamps repeating in order throughout a given roll.

The Scott editors examined a long strip of Tulip Blossoms coil stamps and determined that a strip of 10 different stamps can be removed from a roll. Such a strip of 10 can be found in a roll with and without a plate number single.

On the plate number strip of 10, the plate number appears on the fifth stamp from the left. This strip of 10 with plate number will be listed in the Scott catalogs and will be included in the 2023 Scott Plate Number Coils album supplement.

For a plate number strip with the plate number stamp in the center of the strip, 17 stamps are needed. This strip has the plate number in the middle with eight stamps on each respective side, however the repeating pattern of these stamps isn't symmetrical and has repeating stamp designs.

The strip of 17 will be listed in the 2024 Scott catalogs, but there will be no Scott album page for it because it is too large to fit.

A collector can remove from a roll a plate number strip of 10 as already described and the immediately following strip of 10 without plate number. What remains are seven stamp designs to make up the full 27-stamp interval.

The Tulip Blossoms stamps also were issued in a double-sided pane of 20. These stamps are a different size than the coil stamps, so all stamps will be illustrated in the listings in the Scott New Issues Update in the upcoming June Scott Stamp Monthly.

The order of the stamps in the block of 10 found on the side containing 12 stamps in the double-sided pane differs from the order in the strip of 10 different coil stamps.

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