Plating Old US Stamps

I tried, but couldn't find anything in a search. Is there a "go to" reference that goes into enough detail to allow a collector to identify a stamp by what plate it came from? What stamps can even be plated?

Does the Micarelli Identification Guide to U.S. Stamps go into plating issues?


-IBFS

Depends on the Stamp. For the 1¢ Franklin I use The US One cent Stamp of 1851 - 1861 by Mortimer Neinken. For the 10¢ Stamp I use The United States ten cent Stamp of 1855 - 1857 by Stanley Ashbrook.

Richard DiPorto has a website for platin help on the 1¢ Franklins

http://www.slingshotvenus.com/Frank...hv_Main.html

Please allow me to elaborate on this subject a little bit for the members that want to know a little about the subject or maybe just curious about

Plating is the study of the stamps printed on flat plat printing plates and is about the minute differences of the impressions. People try to put together a re-creation of a printing plate with their stamps from all the positions. Then, there is the numbering system. This can get tricky but I'll take a shot at explaining it but just know I'm not anywhere near an expert on the subject! lol We have at least at one time or another leafing through different posts and seen these types of numbers "11L34" or maybe "116807LR50" {more below on this}. These simply refer to the location and position of the die that printed that stamp. With these particular issues they was printed in a 400 subject sheet consisting of four different panes of 100. They are labeled like this: U.L.= Upper Left, U.R. Upper Right, L.L. = Lower Left and L.R. = Lower Right. To confuse things even more- In describing the location of a stamp on a particular sheet issued prior to 1894 the position number is given first, then the pane position and lastly the plate number. An Example: "11L34" Beginning with the 1894 issue, and all later issues the plate number is given first, then position number of the stamp and lastly the pane position. Example: "116807LR50".

I hope this sheds a little light on the subject and if anyone can add or correct any inaccuracies by all means chime in!

Does anyone know of a link to a web page that explains the symbols used in identifying plate locations? If it makes a difference I am referring to US stamps. I know at least one exists because I remember it. Like a dang fool I didn't bookmark it.


Thanks!
-IBFS

All I can add is this link. It's pretty informative but may have already been posted. I hope this helps you on your quest!

http://www.slingshotvenus.com/Frank...hv_Main.html

Where did you learn this ILS? If it's on that link I couldn't find it or I have chewing gum (used) for brains.


Thanks
-IBFS

I really don't remember but that's how it's done. I am still learning the basics of plating myself so perhaps we can learn together? It obviously depends on the stamp you wish to plate and if there is any prior interest/information on it really? The devil is in the details is just tailored to this subject!

ILS has the perfect reference site, but slightly overcomplicates things, at least for the US 1851 issue.
As the site says, there were 12 plates made for the 1851 1-cent stamp. This interesting stamp is by far the most-studied US postage stamp. The manufacturing standards of the day were such that in theory EVERY position on each of those 12 sheets had slight differences - allowing sharp-eyed spcialists to take a single stamp and determine what sheet and position it came from - ergo PLATING.

The nomenclature is, using an example of the most famous position Scott#5: 7R1E
7 indicates it is in the top row, 7th stamp over
45R1E would be 4th row 5th stamp etc.
R indicates RIGHT side pane - in fact plate 1 had two sides of 100 stamps each
therefore for example there is also a 7L1E the top row stamp on the LEFT side of plate 1.
1 indicates plate 1 - of the 12 possible
E indicates the early stage of plate 1. After using it a while they decided to fix up plate 1 with
numerous cosmetic 'enhancements'. So for plate 1 at least, there is an early E stage and a late
L stage. One consequence of this is that positions 7R1E and 7R1L do not look alike and there
were no more Scott#5's made.

Many later plates had 4 positions LR,LL,UR,UL but for almost all later stamps, plating is impossible. The consistency and precision of the printing, as well as the elimination of 'layout dots and lines' made all the stamps on the sheet look alike.

Yes, let's.

I found other references, but they appear to be books, not websites. A couple of them Stalzer mentioned. My guess is that the construction of the nomenclature is gone into in some depth in at least some of these...

Stanley B. Ashbrook, The United States One Cent Stamp of 1851-1857.

Carroll L. Chase, The 3¢ Stamp of the United States, 1851-1857.

Mortimer L. Neinken, U.S. One Cent Stamp of 1851-61.

Elliott Perry, Plating the 10c, 1847, Collectors Club, New York [1924-1926].

The first thing for me is to just digest what ILS and chasa have said in these posts. What I need is a "feel" for the logic of the nomenclature. (Then, as ILS has said, in 1894 they started doing it differently.)


-IBFS