Your first stamp - Black-Brown 1½d Die I
To me this looks like damage to the stamp (and postmark). I can't find any reference to a variety of this type in ACSC or Bill Fora's checklist. It does appear as it something has scraped across the stamp to remove both the printed color and the postmark. The darker portions of the vertical leg of the L suggest that thinning of the stamp continues upwards.
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The second stamp - Red 1½d Die 1
This is an interesting stamp as it is allocated to Electro 20, the of which existence doesn't seem to have been totally determined. It is the only Electro 20 variety listed in ACSC, while Bill Fiora's much more complete check list only lists five varieties for Electro 20. The position is given as 20R36 (Electro 20, Right pane, Position 36). No other varietal aspects are listed for this stamp. The stamp is the last stamp in Row 6, i.e. it abuts the right margin of the pane. In your image of the watermark, you can thus see the marginal line in the watermark. This line continues around the perimeter of the pane, so vertical (as in your case), horizontal and corner states of the marginal line can be found.
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Your final stamp - Reb-Brown 1½d Die I
The line you see is not part of the variety but is a Compartment line per the following definition:
Quote:
Compartment Lines Irregular lines outside the printed area of stamps occurring in letterpress plates where
extraneous metal (flashing) has not been removed in the manufacturing and therefore picks up ink during
printing.
The compartment line can exist on any one or mutiple sides of each individual stamp. A compartment line is not normally regarded as variety in itself but the existence of one and its randomly individual shape can sometimes confirm the position of a variety when similar varieties exist on the same or another pane.
There is a bulging of the right frame where it meets the lower right corner but, to me, this looks like a case of over inking rather than an actual variety.
On some stamps, a compartment line is present on virtually all printings. On others is is never seen. The existence of a compartment line can also depend upon the printing being over- or under-inked.
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This is also a right marginal stamp showing the watermark line.
Posted 01/22/2026 10:21 am
