Show Your US 1851-57 Imperforate Stamps

The exchange office markings were frequently struck away from the stamp(s), as they were not intended for use as killers.

The typical postal rate from the US to Canada at this time was 10c, and the franking of three 3c stamps, plus a single 1c stamp is not uncommon. It was often paid with a single 10c stamp.

That's certainly a nice cancel to get on a single 3c stamp.

#11A position 48L2L on cover tied by an orange-looking March 10 Clarksfield Ohio CDS.

48L2L features recut #27 – Top label & upper right diamond block joined at top.

I acquired this stamp 20 years ago, and just got around to plating it today. It's an early plate 2L printing from position 55R2L. The color is 1852 early claret/deep.

The print quality is excellent. The stamp shows either doubling of the recut inner and outer side lines or remnants of the original lines transferred from the master die. These features can be seen easily in the vertically-compressed composite image.

A closeup of the top of this stamp is shown at the top of the USPCS 3-cent "Plates" page.

It's interesting that the technique of squishing the image of the stamp down to 10-20% will show not only the unevenness of the lines, but the doubling too.

Very nice Classic Coins!

Thanks, Moyock13. I appreciate your feedback!

For anyone interested in the details of the 55R2L early claret images, the first image was scanned at 800 DPI. The second image was scanned at 2400 DPI, compressed vertically to 10 percent of original, then the left and right sides of the image were cut away from the middle and pasted together.

CC, your mastery of the technology is remarkable! Just trying to keep up with all of the information available here is daunting. Thank you all for the contributions and your generous sharing of knowledge.
I would like to wish all of the participants a wonderful Holiday Season and Merry Christmas to all!

Thank you for your kind comments and contributions, Chip.

Happy holidays to all!

I acquired this cover (wrapper) in 2001, and didn't research it until today.

It is franked with a #10A, position 62R5e, which is tied by an Oct 11 Savannah, Georgia hand stamp with a 3-cent integral rate marking. There are no contents, but there is internal docketing dated Oct 11 1851.

The cover is addressed to Rowland G. Hazard, Peace Dale, Rhode island.

Interestingly, Rowland G. Hazard's father, Rowland Hazard, named the village of Peace Dale after his wife, Mary Peace.

The development of Peace Dale, with a population of only 30 in the early 1820s, was largely due to the textile mills and the adjacent facilities that were developed by the Hazard family from the early 1800s.

Peace Dale was established as an official town in 1793 by Rowland G. Hazard's father.

If anyone knows anything about the markings on the back of the cover, I'd appreciate comments about them.

Hmm... Last name of Hazard... in Georgia... You know where I'm going.

Just the good ol' boys
Never meanin' no harm
Beats all you never saw
Been in trouble with the law
Since the day they was born

I dropped the back of the cover in RetroReveal to get a better look at the text just below and to the right of the seal mark. It doesn't appear to be part of the original post. A more modern scribble.

LOL!

Thanks for doing RetroReveal on it, Moyock13. It's the markings in the bottom right corner that I was curious about. I should have been more specific.

It might be a dealer's code indicating what he paid for it.

Thanks, txstamp.

Here is an 11A from position 66R2L, which shows the "GENTS" variety well, as it is a better-quality printing. A large closeup image of the variety, acquired with a DSLR camera, is included.

In addition to the double transfer in the lower label block, 66R2L is attributed with three lines recut in the upper-left triangle, and variety #27 – Top label & upper-right diamond block joined at top.

The left foot of the T in CENTS is filled with ink, and the bottom frame line is doubled and faint in the middle.

If anyone can figure out the town, I'd appreciate it.

Classic, that's an interesting stamp. Very active.

So, the cds, I can make out NCISVILLE. I thought San Francisco at first but then looking at it in RetroReveal it looks like there is a "ville" at the end.

There is a town in Baton Rouge, LA named St. Francisville, LA. This is my guess.