Another New "Va", Good For Sure This Time!

Arrived yesterday, this one is 64R5, one of several positions with an "E" curl, in the E in POSTAGE. I didn't see the curl in the image when I bought this on BidStart for $11.50, but was pretty sure it was a Plate 5, Relief C or D.

The "E" curl started on 65R5 and shows on at least 65R-24R-64R-23R-63R-22R-62R-21R-61R-30L-70L-29L. (From Richard Doporto's site, The 1 cent Franklin Plating Archive, one of the greatest websites in all of philately). All of these positions are "C" Relief, either the 3rd or 7th row of the plate.

For those who want to look, this is a high res scan, and the marks that ID this as 64R5, besides the E curl, are the vertical dashes on top of one another in the left margin at the top to the left of Ornaments A/B, which is shaped like a large "3" or a backwards "E". Very visible on this, even to the naked eye.


Enjoy, Ray

Congrats on a nice stamp.

Please forgive my ignorance as a newbie, but what is an E curl? Also, what is a plate 5 and relief positions? Is there any significance to any certain plate or position number? Are they more valuable or just something one collects?
Thank you,
Robert

Robert, look at the "E" in Postage, and you'll see the curl. Usually a filament that stuck to the transfer roll, and it's consistent in the same position, for all copies.

On the Type V stamp, there were Plates 5, 7, 8, 9, 10. 6 may have existed, but no proof has ever been found yet, but there are Type V stamps that can't be plated anywhere else, so it may exist.

Plate 5 is special. It was the first of the Type V, but wasn't in use long, so fewer from that plate were printed and are available. About 70% of Plate 5 are Type "Va", and about 30% are Type V. Va only comes from Plate 5. The Type Va stamps are the most beautiful of the Type V stamps-- better impressions, more complete, and much more valuable.

Does that help?
If you want more information, you can find the bible for this issue, Mortimer Neinken's The U.S. One Cent Stamps of 1851-1857 on the US Philatelic Classics website. It is a re-write with additions of Ashbrook's study and 2-volume set of the same issue. Along with the Chase 3c 1851-57 book, these are the "must have's" for those plating these issues.

Thanks for asking, Ray

There are many curls on the 1c stamps of 1857-61. This curl is actually in the E of "POSTAGE". Curls were the result of foreign matter getting on the plate while the plates were being made, such as hairs or lint. The foreign matter got pressed into the plate by the transfer roll and voila, you have what is called a curl that prints on every stamp from that position. The shoulder curls from Plate 7 are the most dramatic and desirable IMHO.

Stamps are sought by different people for different reasons. Plate 5 stamps are the only stamps from the five Type V plates that are specifically sought by collectors. One of the reasons is that many of the Plate 5 stamps are actually Type Va, a sub-type of Type V (and more valuable). Plate 5 was the first plate made to accommodate perforations and halfway through making the plate, a new transfer roll was made which finished the plate with Type V entries. It is a very interesting plate. The early printings from Plate 5 also happen to be very beautiful stamps, some of the very nicest that Toppan Carpenter & Co ever produced.

Edit: Looks like I was typing while Ray was posting.