1c 1857 Plate 5 Stamps

Jaxom100,

Thanks for the images. You'll note that the Ashbrook photos are the so-called "Rosetta Stone" block of 21, discussed in Neinken's 1c book. Discovered in the mid-50's (and announced, iirc, by Ashbrook in the Special Serivce) and disseminated by the then-students, it is significant because it tied the Type V and Type Va stamps to the same pane. In so doing, students realized there was no Plate 6 (that produced stamps; it was probably damaged beyond use when case hardened after entry of the "heads"), only Plate 5 with two different "states" of the reliefs. There is much more to be said about what happened in the creation of Plate 5, but I will leave that for another day (and a future Chronicle article).

I'm familiar with that block - do you know if it's still intact?

Plate #5 was used as production trial. Years ago I spotted some interesting position pieces at a Kelleher auction and snapped them up. This was the first time that universal perforation settings were used on the one-cent stamp. Centerline copies show some were perforated and others were sheared. This was a step towards more organization in production and with universal perforating machine settings.

About this same time I was surprised to discover an unused stamp in my collection from Plate #5! Preliminary evaluation shows it's a Relief D without side scratches:

Mark,

The Rosetta Stone block is in Amb. Middendorf's exhibit, currently. He attended the Gross sale and was the only person Scott introduced in the audience. I believe he is still adding to the exhibit and that collection. May we all be similarly active philatelists when we are 94 years young, too.

Best to you and yours for the holidays.

DAZ

Hi Dave - Nice to see you around.

I'm happy to hear that block has a good home.

AJ: Pretty sure you have an E Relief there.

dudley, The D & E reliefs are fairly close in many respects, except the E relief has the characteristic "dent" in the upper label above the "T" in postage. I have a few other E reliefs in my collection to compare with, and the label above the "T" is almost completely absent in these cases. Perhaps on the pictured stamp the perforation above this point in the label gives that impression, but upon careful examination the label is clearly intact.

For those looking for more information on the reliefs of Scott 24 there is a series articles by David Zlowe on the reliefs in Chronicles 249, 250, and 251 published in 2016

That dent can be more or less evident. By my lights, the stamp is a Relief E based on the degree of completeness of the lower left plume and the outer frame lines (particularly over the A of POSTAGE and under the E of CENT).

I think it is position 86L10.

It is 86L10

Compared it to my 31R5 (Rel.D), 50R5 (Rel.E), and 82R10 (Rel.E). Still not find anything you (dudley) mentioned that I might put my finger on. That said, I'm not a plating specialist either. However, the color and impression quality are definitely Plate 10 and not Plate 5. So, on that basis I'm going to agree with you. Thanks for the assistance on this.

Assuming we can agree that it is Relief E, the plating marks as shown below confirm 86L10.

One can reliably identify E relief stamps by observing the lower left scroll. The left scroll work is very nearly non-existent on the E relief. The D relief does happen to have the next shortest lower left scroll but there is enough difference between the two to keep most people out of trouble.

This Plate 5 multiple just sold at Siegel. Sale 1197 lot 1616.



It is Positions 7-9/17-19/27-29/37-39/49/59/69R5, according to the description.

This is a major Plate 5 item.

Against an estimate of $2000-$3000, it hammered for $8000+tip.

https://siegelauctions.com/lots.php...197-lot-1616