6c Theodore Roosevelt Stamp (1955): How to Identify It

• Portrait source: the portrait of Theodore Roosevelt is taken from a painting by Philip A. de Laszlo.
• Wet vs. dry printing: dry-printed examples are on thicker paper with a more pronounced design than wet printings.

The same design was issued in more than one form. Which one you have changes the catalog listing:

• Wet printing vs. dry printing: Wet-printed sheets predate the Bureau's 1954 dry-printing process; dry-printed sheets are thicker, whiter, and glossier.

The 6c value of the earlier Liberty Series pictures Theodore Roosevelt in carmine; the 6c value of the later Prominent Americans Series pictures a different president, Franklin D. Roosevelt, in gray brown. See the 6c Franklin D. Roosevelt page.

• Measure the perforations with a gauge; the same design often exists in two or three gauges, and that is usually what separates the common one from the scarce one.
• Sheet, coil or booklet: coils have two straight edges on opposite sides; booklet panes have one or two straight edges from the pane edge.
• Tagging: hold it under a longwave UV lamp; tagged and untagged printings of the same design are listed separately.
• Condition (centering, gum, cancel) is a separate question from identification.

Lay the stamp flat on a dark background in daylight, fill the frame, and keep the phone parallel so the perforations are not distorted. Photograph the back too if there is a watermark or gum question. The app reads the design and denomination; the perforation and tagging checks above settle which listing it is.