44p3 ?

Not sure what to call these anymore, with all the Scott number changes...

As the story goes... I purchased one of them from the seller, then,
a week or so later (as memory serves) he put up a second for sale,
to-wit I jumped on immediately and purchased...

Then........... (oh boy).... when I received the second one, I put
them side by side and realized the seller had actually cut a pair
in half... I about cried...

But... very happy to own them, nonetheless...

NICE!!

Thank you, sir... what's today's Scott # on these?

disi123...I am no expert with USA stamps, but the measurements are both 30 pixels width when you join them.
Robert

Hi, Robert... thank you kindly for your contribution...

Randall

Don't understand your question? Your thread title is correct.

Hi, Bill... thank you kindly for chiming in...

Well, I checked my most recent Scott (2013)
and 44P3 is listed as "greenish black", my
1999, 2004 and 2009 Scott's all list as just
44P, same color...

So, I'm assuming your response indicates that
the number has remained 44P3 ?

Randall

Bill... I see this 36BP3 Langs has listed...
I don't see the difference between (it) and 44P3...

Please advise...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/36BP3-PLATE...em2c6c44ec74

I noticed a couple of marks of George's face on the laft stamp, any idea what caused them? Tool Marks?

You are 100% correct in my opinion, there *IS* no difference. Both are 44P from a new die with complete frame lines, whereas 36BP3 would have the broken/irregular frame lines typical of Plate 3 designs. Thank you for putting up that link. I will report the item to Stamp Smarter.........

And by the way, I have always felt that the Scott description of 44 as "greenish black" is misleading. As you can see from your proofs, the color (of the india proofs anyway) is a bold black color, not greenish in the least. Now the issued Special Printing (#44) is a duller black shade in my opinion, but not the proofs (at least not the india proofs which would have been printed in 1875 whereas the card proofs much later, so the card proofs might be a little duller black, but off the top of my head, I'm unsure).

Hi, Bill... I read all of the notations relative to the broken frame
lines for the 36BP3, and I kept going back and forth between Langs'
scan and my own, and couldn't see anything in the way of broken lines
on either... a little wear or possibly weak inking on some of the lines
here and there, but positively no breaks in the true sense.

I know Langs isn't always 100% accurate in his descriptions, but I did
not have any reason to doubt it in this case, which was a misjudgement
on my part, and I thank you for clarifying it for me...

With regards to color, I totally agree with you... these are positively
bold black as you have stated...

littleriverphil mentioned...




I noticed that as well... and a white "streaking" below the left
cheek on both copies... any ideas on this?

Randall

India paper often contains tiny bamboo fibers. Sometimes they pierce the paper slighty or cause a raised area on one side or the other. Without seeing this "in person" I have no idea really, but bamboo fibers is a small possibility.

One other point. Great students agree that if you blow up an image of a stamp (or in this case, a proof) large enough, you will always be able to find some type of flaws or imperfections. So I would never advise any stamp collector to get overly disturbed by these tiny imperfections nearly always present on any stamp, particularly older stamps (pre-1900). Further, there is no real need to explain them in most cases. They are generally NOT plate varieties or any other production-related result. Rather they are mundane and often unexplainable tiny imprefections that do not affect the value or desirability of the item.

Thank you for the explanation Bill. I wondered if either was an inclusion.