Would The Top Line Of This 1c Franklin Be Considered Broken?

Looking for any input on the top curved line on this stamp. I can see where the actual top line seems to start & stop(front of "P" & back of "S"). Would the blurry ink across the top still be considered a line? Thanks for any input.

Can we see the rest of the stamp before making a determination?

My guess is that it is a B-relief stamp from Plate 12. Many of the B-relief positions from Plate 12 are Type IIIa. I think this one qualifies as a Type IIIa because the break looks like it is will over 2mm wide.

The "ink film" exhibited on this stamp is very characteristic of Plate 12 impressions.

sinclair's responses appear to be right on the money, as usual.

More data always helps, however, and a full scan would be a good idea.

It does need to be a clean break of at least 2mm. I always characterize it to myself, that if I can even dream or imagine that there is a faint remnant of a line there, then its not broken.

I guess I'd compare it to the way imperf-between is expertised these days. If there is any hint of a single partially punched perf, then its not imperf-between.

The plate wash makes this a bit hard here, but I think that it is a clean break - pending a full scan.

I can't seem to make the file size of full scan acceptable, so I divided in half. I wanted to share the top & get opinions, before I shared the full stamp. Thank you all for the input. The difference in CV if the top line is considered broken is $4k more. If not considered broken, the CV is still $2k; so either way I'm very happy.

I was able to Plate the stamp to Position 46L12; which is considered a Type IIIa/III. From what I found/read, I don't know if the relief for this position has ever really been agreed upon/determined. I imagine the blur will be considered a line, but I will leave it up to Plating Experts to determine outcome.

One of the coolest positions in the entire issue. Congratulations!

Ray

Very interesting stamp.

46L12 is a very serious 1c stamp.
If this is authenticated as such, then that is a very significant discovery.

I spent some time studying the ornament shape and completeness of your stamp, and reference 46L12's from online. The ornament shapes at top and bottom seem to match quite well.

What is bothering me at the moment is some plating marks on your stamp, that I just cannot find on any of the other copies. O-marks, and various other things, at least one of which, I'd have hoped to match to another. Plate 12 is/was a mess, so transient markings are a way of life with it, so that's quite possible.

Also, the bottom line on yours has the perfs cutting it which makes things a bit more difficult. That is a big hurdle, as the broken bottom line, is what defines the 46L12, moreso than the broken top -- which is common enough on plate 12.

Anyway, this stamp is definitely worth our staring at for some time.

I've studied plate 12, but I think sinclair has probably studied it more than I, from what I've inferred from his postings, so I'll be interested in his input. One thing I'm not clear on, is whether there is any other position on plate 12, that shows such an odd ornament configuration/completeness, but also does not have the bottom line broken.

edit: Neinken did not record any stamp with this ornament configuration on plate 12 other than 46L12.

I'll continue to look at this.

I neglected to mention that there is clearly a C relief above your stamp (Type I), so that helps your case for this being 46L, since 36L12 is a Ty I, #18, C-relief.

edit: I found a 46L12 at Siegel that does appear to have the same scratch or foreign matter on the plate in the reverse "C" made by ornament F and G. The other copies don't appear to have this, but one does, and I think its a good match.

edit2: I found the same scratch/mark on 2 others, for a total of 3 now. It is fairly consistent, but varying in strength.

I see no evidence of this, but I'm trying to be thorough...

jmt - look at the lower right plume area -- below what you can see. Is there any evidence of scraping-off of the LR plume? I don't see any, but that is often better checked in person.

From everything I've seen, this does look like 46L12.

Its a very complicated stamp/variety, so lets hear from others as well before passing final judgment.

I have a few references at home I want to check later tonight.

I sent an email to Deep Cert, as I'm sure he would be interested in studying this and I definitely want to hear from sinclair and dudley.

After confirming the Ornament F/G mark, I'm convinced you have a 46L12.

What a find. Congrats.

To casual readers out there, 46L12 is a bizarre variety because it doesn't match any known relief. There had to be some sort of re-entry with multiple different reliefs which didn't look alike. As a result, its kind of a Frankenstein stamp -- sewed together from multiple sources. It has a broken bottom line, thus is a Ty IIIA. Some copies, like, apparently this one, also have a broken top line, making it Ty III, Scott #21. Either way, 46L12 is considered one of the top 1c plate varieties out there, by specialists. There aren't a lot of these known -- certainly fewer than 20, maybe still less than 10, I'm not sure. At any rate, this is a significant 1c find. Way to go jmt !

Anyone who has the "Perforation Centennial" book from about 1957, the cover of it has a picture of a 46L12. It is that significant a 1c stamp, but it doesn't get a lot of press, partly because it is so scarce.

JMT--very cool stamp! If you do not mind sharing, I am curious where you purchased this stamp.

And Txstamp--thanks for the in depth info/analysis. As always, your posts are required reading.

I agree that that the stamp is 46L12. Nice find. Deep Cert can speak much more authoritatively about the position than I can.

Thanks, Sinclair.

Deep Cert indicated that he'll look at this tomorrow, but he pointed out to me that he thinks that 46L12 is, in fact, a true C relief, that for whatever reason, was severely shortened at both top and bottom.

Thanks everyone for the input; very much appreciated! I'm happy to share my find here & I'm glad a couple people enjoy the stamp! I apologize I can't provide anymore pics/scans of the stamp yet. The stamp was mailed out today, so I should receive by the end of the week/weekend.

From what info I could find on the position; I gathered that it is quite a special/unique position! I'm very excited to have found an example for my Franklin Collection!

I did take some close up screen shots of the image I have. I've marked what I found to be consistent plate marks/features, that seem consistent with known examples. I'm pretty confident that the stamp is from Position 46L12. I plan on having the stamp plated, upon arrival. I will definitely share the results here.

I found this interesting article in my researching Position 46L12:

http://chronicle.uspcs.org/pdf/Chro...08/12713.pdf