499 & Full Ty I 499 Or 499 & 500 ?

Tipzi had some great commentary and insight
into this subject on the other 500 post...
I hope he's able to participate in this thread...

ORstampman, great eyes!! Yes, this is the one I purchased from you. I have 20-30 more like this (I seem to be attracted to this issue) and your looked like a clear 500 and I had to see for myself. Might send back in for re-ID. I'll let you know :)

OR and Shannon... I'm no expert by any
stretch, but I've had a long-term love
affair with 2cent2 Washingtons and have
numerous copies of the varieties, most
of which I've never sent for certs...

In another thread, speaking with Tipzi,
whom seems to be quite knowledgeable on
on the technical end of printing, inking,
etc, he mentioned many interesting points,
particularly with regards to printing
methodology, burnishing, etc, and pointed
out "the button and surrounding region
and hairlines are the first areas which
begin to show wear"... so, if he's able
to get into this string and comment on
the stamp in question, I'm most certain
he will have a few very technical and
exacting statements about it, and what
it either (is) or (not is), as may be
the case...

In essence, perhaps the stamp in question
could be an (underinked 500) versus an
(overinked 499)...

Sounds good - I am also striving to continuously increase my knowledge about these details - so hoping to get some more studied observations added to this thread. I thought that the 2nd from the left stamp was a genuine Scott 500, so sent it in for an opinion, receiving "overinked 499". Hope to find out if either I can improve my toolset, or be more tenacious on the opinion gathering effort.

Given that the 499 falls into two distinct
categories, Ty I and Full Ty I, an "overinked"
499 would be an *unlikely-event*, in-that by
definition all (first-gen, to coin a phrase)
499's were the weak impression, so an overinking
would not be logical based upon just that...

Now... with regards to the *Full Ty I*, that's
entirely another issue... and I do not mean by
an "over-inking-event" but, by the natural time
and wear variances within the "species" so to
speak... as they are numerous and varied...

Speaking of 499 and 500. This rare pair will be sold at Siegel's this month. It is the number-1 item I would love to find in a mixture some day!

The second two cent is definitely a #500. No question. Over-inking can't double or triple the thickness of a line, the toga button, without doing the same to adjacent lines, the vertical toga shading.

Plates 10208 and 10209 were the only type Ia plates. However, two subjects on plate 10208 were reentered using the standard single subject type I die. One of the bottom plate blocks contains two 499 and four 500. The strong characteristics of the type Ia 500 were due to using a multi subject transfer roll that required more pressure than a standard single subject transfer roll.

In addition to the characteristic strong top toga line and the strong toga button outline, some plating marks in the right or left ribbon are invariably present. In the large example in the disi123 post, a partial second line can be seen in the right ribbon. A tick mark can usually be seen at the top or bottom of the left or right ribbon. Compare with a Scott 406 where the area that would be occupied by the second line in the ribbon is completely clean and the outline of the toga button and the top of the toga rope are complete but not noticeably strong. Later printings of 499 during World War I have quite weak lines because of plate wear caused by inferior ink used after normal sources of ink were cut off by the war.

The Scott 500 exists in at least two shades. Neither shade is particularly bright and definitely do not resemble shades used in watermarked printings.

Clark

Look at this PB of 10209...
no two stamps are the same...

Differences in hair, jaw, button
ribbon... and none appear to be
the *strong* Ia impression... like
the single I posted...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/500-Type1a-...em2c6c653410

The stamps in the block of six with are all strong enough to be type Ia. Impressions may vary a small amount because of the multi-subject transfer roll. The tick marks in the right and left ribbons, documented by Richard Prothero in the February 1998 USSS journal should allow positions within the ten subject transfer roll to be identified. While certain aspects of the article remain controversial, it is still quite useful. USSS members may log in to the members area of the USSS site and read the article. Posters here with a deep interest in United States stamps who are not members of the United States Stamp Society are urged to join.