Found 3 "Gashes" On A Scott #65. Any Thoughts?

I had recently received a small parcel of stamps and among them was this Scott 65. I noticed that it had three linear gashes, one near the eye, one on the neck and another on the toga. It seems likely that they were created at the same time, probably during printing, since the color of the "gashes" match the color of the ink of the stamp. Note, all three "gashes" seem to line-up. The back of the stamp shows nothing whatsoever abnormal; it's all on the front of the stamp. So, the question is: Is it just a random, one-of-a-kind, meaningless anomaly or something else? Any ideas?

It could be a printing anomaly but it could be, and likely is, a plate scratch. Finding another identical copy would confirm a plate variety rather than a printing freak. Value is pretty minimal.

I have no problem with the value of the stamp, perhaps, being nominal. However, if the "gashes" occurred due to a "scratch" on the plate and there are others out there in "stamp" land like it, I find that, in and of itself, to be fascinating.

I am a lover of plate varieties myself!

A scratch on a plate that makes stamps that show signs of "that" scratch is actually producing stamps rather unique among rest of the stamps of the same variety. In a way, the stamps exhibiting the identical scratched-plate markings become something of a "sub-variety" of the stamp. That's interesting to me.

To a lot of us!

Mizar, that's a dramatic-looking variety. I've owned many hundreds of #65s, but have never seen one like yours. Thanks for showing it.

Here's one I used to own with a damaged/scratched area in the upper right corner. I haven't seen a second example of this scratch either:

Classic Coins, sooner or later serious stamp collectors come to realize that there are two kinds of perfection that they encounter. The first, of course, is the obvious, that is, the eternal quest for the perfectly formed pristine product of the stamp printer's trade. The second, on the other hand, is not nearly as obvious, namely, accidentally stumbling across the perfectly "imperfect" stamp, much like the one I started this topic with. Good collectors must recognize both when they see them...that's the game! Ironically, it is the stamps that lie within that great expanse stretching between the "perfect" and "perfectly imperfect" stamps that may ultimately be the least desirable. - James

Well done, Mizar!

Has there been any reference material written about the 65 and varieties?

As you probably already know, there is a great deal of information available regarding the plethora of color variations of this issue, but in terms of plate scratches and other anomalies I haven't found anything that could help shed any viable semblance of light on the subject. Still, I believe that someone, somewhere, at some time, must have written something about it.

My online search of the USPCS Chronicle didn't turn up any articles on plate scratches on this issue. I did find an article on plate scratches on the 12-cent 1861 issue in Chronicle #105 (1980).

If the USPCS Chronicle doesn't have an article about it, then I doubt that anyone anywhere else ever took the time to write one. I'll have to pull up the article you mentioned. Thanks!

Mike McClung wrote an article in the Chronicle showing some double transfers on #65. I don't have the issue right here, but I'm sure you could find it with his name.

With the billions of #65's that were printed, they did a pretty good job....

Hope this is helpful, Ray