Plate Varieties Vs Major Issues

I prefer not to hijack another thread, so I would like to follow up here.

I made the statement:




Which was responded to with:




How are plate varities differentiated from major varieties?

Taking, for example, the 1c Franklin from 1851, there are (8) major catalogue numbers listed for the imperf stamps, but in reality (more than) 200 varieties since every plate, and position on each plate, can be identified.

Am I correct in assuming there was only one die? Isn't what happens during the process of making transfer rolls and plates considered varieties and not major issues?

Brian

I have often wondered why the 1 cent Franklin of 1851 was given major Scott numbers based solely on the degrees of transfer from the roller and/or recutting of the design. It really doesn't make too much sense. In my opinion all it does is make for a nearly empty page in my album. No ordinary collector can possibly afford many of the major numbers, for example Number 5.

It is so sad to see that page in my album.
( I fully realize that I am a voice crying in the wilderness)

It appears there are two of us!

There are more than two, I have met some very knowledgeable people who think that there is really only one 1851 one cent blue with several plate recuts that should be minor numbers. If you go back far enough in the old catalogs there were only one or two listings total. Obviously at this point the Genie is out of the bottle. I think most people think of plate varieties as double transfers, foreign entries, and plate cracks and scratches; minor listing items that do not qualify for a major listing. The sort of subtle technical differences that stamp collectors are famous for.

The US is not the only country with interesting plate varieties. The Ceres issues (1914-26) of the Portuguese colonies have all sorts of plate varieties, scratches, transfers double or missing, and other printing varieties. One of the more prominent is a "fenda" (which is Portuguese, I think, for a break in the frame line going around the stamp). Then of course there are the numerous shades and the perf varieties (15 x 14 and 12 x 11 1/2).

The upside is that these colonial varieties are relatively cheap, compared to the very pricy early US. The downside is that they can be devilishly difficult to find, other than the shades, at least here in the US.

There are a lot of us out here like that!

My solution was to collect early US by design type. I bought the PSE album by design type:

http://www.psestamp.com/usd/moreinfo.chtml

I would rather have one good copy (within my collecting budget) than pages of empty spots. For series that interest me (e.g. W/F and S/S) and any duplicates I use the Mystic Heirloom album.

Dan

"I have often wondered why the 1 cent Franklin of 1851 was given major Scott numbers based solely on the degrees of transfer from the roller and/or recutting of the design. It really doesn't make too much sense. In my opinion all it does is make for a nearly empty page in my album. No ordinary collector can possibly afford many of the major numbers, for example Number 5."

I think they were done like this back in the earlier days when there were FAR fewer stamps that had been issued, so more study could be made to each issue. Not saying I agree with giving the 1c different major numbers, just saying why I think it happened.