10 Cent Jefferson 1879 Abn Co. ?

I have what appears to be an 1879 American Bank Note Co. re-engraved 10 Cent Jefferson, #187. From the left margin, at the narrowest portion, I only count 4 lines between the frame line and the shield (oval) line. It also feels like soft porous paper. I do not, however, see a crescent in the ball below the "E" in postage. Perf is 12, and there is no grill. When American received the plates from Continental, does anyone know if, during the re-engraving process, they eliminated Continental's secret marks? Thanks for any help.The only other choice, obviously, would be #150. I tried to scan, but by the time I blew it up so one could see it on here, it was way too blurry. Thanks for any insight you could add. Larry

Try #209...that would be my guess.

No secret mark....(semicircle in the right hand scroll)...150 - 187 - 209
Soft paper....#187 - 209
4 vert lines to left of shield....#209
That is my reasoning.....

forgot.....grill is only #139....since no grill I did not include in
the elimination process.

My bad...209 was the re-engraved version, DUH! Anyway, I assume that the secret marks passed on in the plates from Continental were eliminated, then? Thanks for the help, Kevin!

Here look at this-

@sprtsracer

As you note the 209 was the re-engraved version and it was without secret mark. However, the work was done in 1881-82, not 1879. I think you are being thrown off by the 187 you first mentioned, which was first created about 1880 and is to be associated with the series of 1879. By this time the secret mark was a standard part of the design, and when American made new plates for the 10c they were supposed to have the secret mark. Usually they did. But in 1880 a couple of the plates needed re-entry to strengthen the clichés and one of the siderographers grabbed a transfer roll that had come down from the national Bank Note Company. The reliefs on this roll did not have the secret mark. Where this was used on the existing entries it squeezed out the secret mark that had been present and either eliminated it or reduced it significantly. Not all the plate positions got this treatment, so as a result multiples exist in which stamps with and without secret mark appear se tenant.

So in answer to your original question, the elimination of the secret mark was done unintentionally at the re-entry of a couple of plates in 1880, and officially dropped with the re-engraving of the die in 1882.

Thank you, essayk! That answers my only other question. One other note: When looking in my Mystic Heirloom Album, on the left side, it states that on #209, there areonly 4 horizontal lines above the top of the shield, and that the frame around "U.S. POSTAGE" now touches the edge of the frame. Both cases are true in this instance, thus, it has to be a #209. Thanks to all for the assistance. Larry