Another ID Check - Is There A Way To Tell What This Is? #9?

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Plate 1 Late
This plate is unique among 1¢ plates. As plate one in it's original state began to show wear, the printers decided to extend the life of the plate by employing the original transfer roll and re-entering each and every position, thus strengthening the design. As the top and bottom outer curved lines were still not strong enough, each line that needed strenngthening was recut by hand. All but one of the 200 positions received this attention. This lone stamp is Position 4R1L, a Type II. The remaining positions are all Type IV. This reworked plate is refered to as Plate One in the late state or simply Plate One Late.

The Recutting of the Curved Outer Lines

Type IV (Scott No. 9) stamps have re-cutting of one of the four curved lines at either the top or the bottom of the design. All type IV stamps have either the top or bottom line re-cut or both of them re-cut. Stamps that have either the top or bottom inner lines re-cut will always also have an outer line re-cut. There are seven different combinations available, all produced from from plate 1 in it's late state. Stamps with double re-cuts (two lines at the top or bottom) are more rare than stamps with only one line re-cut at the top or bottom or both. Knowledge of this aspect is important for several reasons: to know if a stamp is recut in order to determine if it is indeed a Type IV and differentiate it from other types, to be able to collect at least one of the seven different recut varieties. And for the more advanced collector, to have the capability to plate the stamps and thus reconstruct and re-assemble the complete pane and plate.