There are 21 designs of indicia whose face value is three cents. One of these designs is distinctive enough that it can be identified by examining the image immediately below. The remaining 20 designs feature a bust of George Washington (16 designs), a pony express rider and a train (2), or a large numeral inside an oval (2).
   For a key to the Pony Express rider and train designs click here.
   For a key to the Washington designs click here.
   For a key to the large numeral designs click here.

Mount Vernon

design U95

You have identified design #U99, diagnostic for Scott #U526 (printed in violet on white paper).

one	design U57	You have identified design#U57, printed in red on white paper and diagnostic for Scott #U218, or printed in green on white paper and diagnostic for Scott #U219.
two	design U58	You have identified design #U58, printed in red on white paper and diagnostic for Scott #U220 (not regularly issued), or printed in green on white paper and diagnostic for Scott #221.

only as the words "three cents" (go to Question 3)	design U1	design U2	design U3	design U4	design U5	design U12

as the numeral "3" (either once or twice) and sometimes as the words "three cents" also (go to Question 8)

design U13

design U21

design U25

design U44

design U45

design U46

design U93

design U97

no	design U12	You have identified design #U12, printed in red and shared by Scott #s U26 (white) and U27 (buff).
yes (go to Question 4)	design U1	design U2	design U3	design U4	design U5

yes (go to Question 5)	design U1	design U5
no, they are straight or angled (go to Question 6)	design U2	design U3	design U4

yes the words almost touch the ends of the labels	design U1	You have identified design #U1, printed in red and shared by Scott #s U1 (white) and U2 (buff).
no there is as much space between the words and the ends of the labels as there is between the letters	design U5	You have identified design #U5, printed in red and shared by Scott #s U9 (white) and U10 (buff).

straight (go to Question 7)	design U2	design U4
angled	design U3	You have identified design #U3, printed in red and shared by Scott #s U5 (white) and U6 (buff).

yes the words almost touch the ends of the labels	design U2	You have identified design #U2, printed in red and shared by Scott #s U3 (white) and U4 (buff).
no there is at least as much space between the words and the ends of the labels as there is between the letters	design U4	You have identified design #U4, printed in red and shared by Scott #s U7 (white) and U8 (buff).

once	design U97	Design U97 Scott Equivalents Scott # color envelope notes U534 dark violet white die 4 U534a dark violet white die 1 U534b dark violet white die 2 U534c dark violet white die 3 U534d dark violet white die 5

twice (go to Question 9)	design U13	design U21	design U25	design U44

design U45

design U46

design U93

yes, they are enclosed (go to Question 10)	design U13	design U25	design U44

	design U45	design U46	design U93
no they are not enclosed	design U21	You have identified design #U21, printed in pink and shared by Scott #s U58 (white) and U59 (buff), or printed in brown and shared by Scott #s U60 (white) and U61 (buff).

in a circle (go to Question 11)	design U13	design U25	design U93
in an oval (go to Question 13)	design U44	design U45	design U46

in the lower half of the design	design U93	Design U93 Scott Equivalents Scott # color envelope notes U436 purple white die 1 U436e purple white die 7 U436f purple white die 9 U436a dark violet white die 1 U436b dark violet white die 5 U436c dark violet white die 6 U436d dark violet white die 7 U436g carmine white die 1 erroneous U436h carmine white die 5 erroneous U437 purple amber die 1 U437e purple amber die 7 U437f purple amber die 9 U437a dark violet amber die 1 U437b dark violet amber die 5 U437c dark violet amber die 6 U437d dark violet amber die 7		Design U93 Scott Equivalents Scott # color envelope notes U437g carmine amber die 5 erroneous U437h black amber die 1 erroneous U438 dark violet oriental buff die 1 U438a dark violet oriental buff die 5 U438b dark violet oriental buff die 6 U438c dark violet oriental buff die 7 U439 purple blue die 1 U439e purple blue die 7 U439f purple blue die 9 U439a dark violet blue die 1 U439b dark violet blue die 5 U439c dark violet blue die 6 U439d dark violet blue die 7 U439g carmine blue die 5 erroneous

halfway between the top and bottom of the design (go to Question 12)

design U13

design U25

green	design U25	You have identified design #U25, printed in green and shared by Scott #s U82 (white), U83 (amber), and U84 (cream), or printed in brown (erroneously) on white paper and diagnostic for Scott #U82a.
pink	design U13	You have identified design #U13, printed in pink and shared by Scott #s U34 (white), U35 (buff), U36 (blue), and U37 (orange; not regularly issued).

thin	design U44	You have identified design #U44, printed in green and shared by Scott #s U159 (white), U160 (amber), U161 (cream), and U162 (blue; not regularly issued).
thick (go to Question 14)	design U45	design U46

yes	design U46	You have identified design # U46, printed in green and shared by Scott #s U168 (white), U169 (amber), U170 (blue; rare), and U171 (fawn; rare).
no	design U45	Design U45 Scott Equivalents printed in green Scott # envelope U163 white U164 amber U165 cream U166 blue U167 fawn

yes	design UO10	Design UO10 Scott Equivalents Scott # color envelope UO20 dark red white UO21 dark red amber UO22 dark red cream UO34 vermilion white UO35 vermilion amber UO36 vermilion cream .
no	design UO19	Design UO19 Scott Equivalents printer in red Scott # envelope UO51 white UO52 amber UO53 cream UO54 blue UO55 fawn

9 mm	design UO2	You have identified design UO2, printed in black and shared by Scott #s UO2 (lemon paper) and UO3 (white).
91/4 mm	design UO5	Design UO5 Scott Equivalents Scott # color envelope UO7 black lemon UO8 black white UO9 black amber UO10 black blue UO11 blue blue