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

WOW!

I am no 1c specialist but I know what a 46L12 is and I have to say that I am VERY happy for you!

Look at the Wagshal sale... the one where Siegel sold his 1c Perforated stamps, he had a bunch of 46L12s and I seem to recall them bringing berserk money. Congrats on a super cool find!

Bill

Jerry (Wagshal) had many of the known copies locked up in his collection forever. When they came out, it was a feeding frenzy.

Deep Cert just emailed me. Here is the text of his email:

"I had some time today to look over the 46L12. I have no doubt that's what it is.

The F/G mark you mention appears to show better on some copies than others. I had added this mark to the Neinken mat in the book some time ago."

I noticed this when I was looking at other copies of 46L12. PF Cert #496272. Guess they must have misplaced the certificate before they sold the stamp for $5K! I don't really agree with the cert anyway; top line sure looks broken to me.

http://pfsearch.org/pfsearch/pf_grd...lledfrom=lkp

Lot #1516

https://siegelauctions.com/lots.php...6&page_no=65

I doubt that very much. A more reasonable assumption is that it was submitted after Wagshal 4.

Could be the case; just looked a little shady to me. Not sure why PF can't provide a date for when cert was issued, or just a pic/scan of the actual cert.

Plating confirmed :) Congrats !!

Interesting that he didn't consider the top line broken.

Its a close call, and I definitely acknowledge that deciding if a line is really broken is best done in person.

If the image uploaded correctly, note the break in the top of this 46L12 from Siegel's site. The break is progressive, meaning as the plate wore the weak top line became broken, and that break widened during printing. This one, found inside a book along with a partial sheet, came out of an estate of a woman who was the daughter of slaves in the Nashville area, probably remainders after demonetization. It took 20 years to get certified as a type III. Note how little "plate wash" this stamp has compared to the one under discussion, as it was a much later print.