Show Your US 1851-57 Imperforate Stamps

Harper1249 and ioagoa, thank you. It was the discussion regarding Harper's 5L5E that lead me to investigate plate 5E. The TFL is certainly interesting.

With the 5L5E and the engravers slip, I didn't see that Chase mentioned it. Is there a chart or data base that lists all of the stamps with engravers slips?

Hi Moyock13 --

Regarding "engraver slips" -- I have found plenty of minor slips -- and a few major ones as well -- that are not mentioned in the Chase book.

Other than what is available on stampplating.com -- I am not aware of a fully complete and comprehensive "chart or database" that lists all of the various slips and other plate varieties that Chase comments on throughout his book.

In helping Bryan O'Doherty when he set up stampplating.com -- we went through the Chase book and the Chase photo notes -- and attempted to pull out all of his (i.e., Chase's) narrative comments -- and added them to the "comment" field for all applicable positions on stampplating.com.

If you go to the stampplating.com website -- under the "resources" tab -- you can easily download the Excel spreadsheet containing the master data file that was used to populate the various stampplating.com webpages for each of the 2,600 positions -- and you will see that there is a column where all of the comments were input. You can also filter by this column -- and doing so would be the closest thing to a "database or chart" in this regard (at least that I am aware of).

Hope this helps a little.

Regards // ioagoa


edited to clarify where on stampplating.com to find the Excel file download

ioagoa, Thank you! That does help!

I was looking for a method to track all of the little nuances I find while attempting to plate the 3 cent Washingtons. Do you feel I need to contact Bryan O'Doherty to let him know I'm using the provided spreadsheets? I have no ill intent.

Hi Moyock13 --

Bryan made the download available directly from stampplating.com -- so I do not believe you need to ask permission.

That said, this is the qualifier that Bryan has posted about the spreadsheet:




Bottom line -- the version you download is "protected" such that it cannot be modified without a password -- so while you will be able to "use" it, without asking Bryan for an "unprotected copy" you would not be able to "maintain" it for any changes you desired to make (like adding a column for engraver slips if that is something you wanted to do).

I can't speak for Bryan -- but if you wanted an unprotected copy, I would not hesitate to contact him as stated on his website. In exchange, he will probably ask that you keep him advised of any corrections or clarifications you may find -- which seems more than fair to me.

As an aside -- one thing I like about the spreadsheet is that you can use all of the various Boolean logical commands when filtering (e.g., AND, NOT, AND NOT, etc., etc.) -- versus the hardwired "OR" logical operator that is implicitly built into the plating wizard. Very useful if you have a stamp with multiple recuts -- or only want to see stamps without certain recuts. This type of conditional searching becomes much easier with the spreadsheet -- and then you can take the "short list" and go back to the website to check the potential candidates. I have discussed with Bryan the benefits of adding full Boolean logical operators to the plating wizard -- and it is something he may consider doing in the future.

Regards // ioagoa

Done! Thanks ioagoa!

The spreadsheet linked above is protected but only because it is coming from an online source. It is easily unprotected by clicking on the 'Unprotect' button in Excel (as long as you trust the source).
Don

Edit: As an aside (and not applicable to the spreadsheet mentioned above)... Folks should not use the Excel 'password protect' feature in Excel if they want a spreadsheet to be secure; it takes about 30 seconds to defeat.

Thanks Don. Since I use a Mac at home I opened the protected file in Numbers and was able to save it unprotected. I know, I'll lose a little of the xlsx functionality. But that's okay for my usage. Still, I did ask Bryan D for his permission to use the spreadsheet. Just a conscience thing I guess. Besides, with his unprotected excel workbook and my IBM work laptop...! Now I can get in trouble at work goofing with stamps!

Greetings all. Here is an interesting cover I have been looking at more closely. It has a 1851 3c tied with a "WESTCHESTER, Pa JUL 14 1857" black cds. It might also be JUL 04. Unfortunately the envelope has been stained or exposed to heat (burned). I'm not quite sure but I'm leaning towards some type of staining. There is also a nice wax seal on the back side.

The stamp appears to be a relief A. The TLB and ULDB have been recut and it has two inner lines. It's possible the ULT is recut but its hard to see because of the staining. Since the letter was mailed in 1857, I'm assuming it is an 11A. If i'm reading things right, Plates 4,6,7 and 8 were being used in July 1857. None of these plates produced stamps with inner frame lines. This leads me to Plates 2L, 3 or 5L all of which were taken out of service by March 1857. So it would appear that this stamp was used roughly 4 months after it was printed.

**Edit: I went back through Plate 3 and found 54L3 that matches up quite nicely.

I've gone through all of the A reliefs on 2L, 3 and 5L and haven't found a position that matches this stamp. 18L3 and 75R2L are close but I don't think they are matches. There aren't a lot of unique features on this one that are visible or make it stand out. I'll run back through the plates and find it. I haven't looked at plate 1L yet as it was taken out of service in 1855. Maybe I should.

Lastly, it's addressed to the Honorable William M. Meredith in Philadelphia. A little internet research turned up a William M. Meredith from Philadelphia who served as a U.S. attorney from 1841-1845. He then served as the Secretary of Treasury under President Zachary Taylor from 1849-50. He also served as the Pennsylvania Attorney General from 1861-67. Quite the career in public service.

Just thought it was an interesting cover and wanted to share.
Harper1249

All --

I have been collecting the 1851 - 1857 3c imperf issue for decades and this is the first time I have stumbled upon a copy with a duplex barred oval (ellipse) cancel reminiscent of the "Bank Note" period.

Stamp is a Scott #11A -- a total "dog" -- and what I call NWP (Not Worth Plating) -- but the cancel is potentially very interesting -- as some preliminary research indicates that these barred oval / elliptical duplex style cancels first came in to use in the early 1870's -- which, if genuine, might make this a demonetized usage and an interesting piece of "off-cover" postal history -- or perhaps it is just a worthless freak?

Scan is attached below -- and any comments are appreciated.

Regards // ioagoa

ioagoa take a look at https://www.philbansner.com/postal/082603.jpg



Check the date 1885. Maybe your stamp is a late usage.

ioagoa - that is definitely a late usage as that cancel did not exist in the 1851-61 period.

The example just shown, aka circa bank-note era looks like the correct timeframe.

Hi Moyock and txstamp --

Thank you to both of you for the info on my "late usage" #11A.

Another stamp now destined for the "cancel collection" -- as a "demonetized use".

The cancel looks genuine to me -- and even though this particular copy is a stamp that has obviously had a long hard life -- I am now inclined to plate it before I write it up and mount it in my "side bar" cancel collection of "off cover postal history".

Thanks again to both of you for your insights.

Regards // ioagoa

In Philadelphia the cutoff date for usage of demonetized stamps was August 26, 1861. I would give a lot to have seen the cover that 11A stamp was on.

Hi rodgcam --

Thanks for the cutoff date for usage of demonetized stamps for Philadedlphia -- I will add that to my write-up.

Chase very generally discussed demonetization in his book (reference -- page 39) -- stating that the dates on which demonetization occurred were, notably November 1, 1861 -- December 1, 1861 -- and January 1, 1862 for varying sections of the country. So, it looks like the August 26, 1861 Philly cutoff was a few months prior -- which would make it roughly 4 months after the start of the Civil War.

I agree that the cover would have been really interesting to see -- but alas this stamp was included in an "off-cover" bulk lot of unplated stamps I recently acquired -- so we will never know.

Thanks again for the Philly demonetization cutoff date -- much appreciated.

Regards // ioagoa

A reminder that just because the stamp has a cancel, that does not mean that it was accepted as postage and may not technically be a demonetized usage. You would have to see the cover. On the other hand, by the time this cancel was in use, there may have been more willingness to let the stamp pass as postage paid.