Plating Help 11A B Relief?

Hello,

I am working on learning to plate 1851-56 3c Washington Stamps. I've picked some distinctive ones that might be easier to plate, but I'm having trouble right away. This one looks like a B Relief to me (maybe a C with very faint shoulder gash), and it has a guide dot in the UR. It also has some distinctive recutting along to top frame line and a possible double impression (seen in center of the UL rosette. I think it is from plate 1L, 2L, 3, or 5L.

I checked all the stamps with a guide dot in the upper right (regardless of plate or relief), and I must have missed this one - I was trying to match on the top frame line recuts.

Can anyone help? I'm more looking for help on the process of plating than the actual position, but ultimately, I want to know what position this is too.

I'm using this website to help: http://stampplating.com/

Lets start with a quote from Dr. Chase:

"A word or two on the easiest method of plating ... note the most marked characteristic of its recutting and perhaps the next most marked ... For example the left inner line may run up a bit too far or be crooked at one point, and the top and left frame lines may not quite meet at the corner. Keeping these one or two salient features in mind it will be found possible to run through the lot rapidly and reject all but a few. These few must then be gone over again more carefully..."

In the case of your stamp, you noted the most obvious feature, the guide dot. The UL rosette does appear to show a slight shift too, but there are other good features to check. The UR diamond block has typical plate 1L recutting; not always reliable, but certainly points to the first plate to check. Also note the extent oft the inner line recuts. The upward extent of the right inner line varies greatly between positions. On your stamp it just touches the bottom of the UR triangle. There is also what may be a faint second guide dot. I don't see other strong features on your stamp: no unusual recuts or grossly crooked frame lines.

Keeping just the guide dot and right inner line in mind, one can quickly go through references for the top row of plate 1L and eliminate all but perhaps 3 stamps. (When narrowing down the options, be careful to eliminate only those positions that clearly fail to match; incorrectly eliminating the right position is a good way to waste an entire afternoon.) Comparing the remaining candidates more closely to your stamp should provide the answer.

In more difficult cases, a powerful method is to to compare the remaining candidate stamps, not with the unknown stamp, but with each other to tease out the critical differences between them. Use multiple references when available. And after you decide which position you have, look in the appropriate chapter of Chase to see what, if any, remarks Chase made about the position.

Thanks ttreen. I'll take another run at it. It looks to me like the most obvious feature (other than the guide dot) is the recut at the top of the left diamond block. . .that's what I was looking for when trying to match. . .that feature isn't listed as a recut to look for - Should I avoid looking at the top and bottom frame lines when trying to match? Is that maybe not a consistent feature?

I saw the extra ink at the top of the top label and wrote it off as possibly "pulled" ink or some other printing variety. I'm embarrassed to say I didn't notice the shifted top of the ULDB, even though you pointed out the shift in the rosette. I've always had trouble spotting shifts like that, frequently noticing them only after checking Dr. Chase's notes.

Top and bottom frame line usually aren't as helpful as the side lines, but if they are distinctive, use them. It takes experience to sort out which clues are the most helpful for you. On the inner line stamps, I find the upward extent of the right inner line is a huge help.

Philazilla,

Sure is fun trying to solve this puzzle. I also saw the the top of the upper left diamond block and thought this had to be something to use. I tried several plates earlier today and came up with nothing. With ttreens' pointing to 1L, I went back to look again this evening. Using the same plating wizard tool you mention above, my second look had me zero in on 8R1L. The third sample photo of those provided has a top left diamond block that seems to be a hit. The first two examples for that position do not show this feature to the same degree but the third one appears to. Also to me, the Right Frame line seems to have a slight bend in it and this position also seems to align well with that.

Hope this helps. I could be all wrong but I think it is close.
Hobsun


UPDATE: Opps sorry my plating tool was the one in stamp smarter - not the one you used. You may already have this but see link below.

http://stampsmarter.com/features/SQ..._Plates.html

Thanks - I think I agree, but my stamp is a very good match for only the 3rd stamp listed in the StampSmarter plating tool - it does not match the 1st two (at the diamond blocks) (nor do those areas match the stamps on the stampplating.com website. Interesting that this is a C-relief. . .that shoulder gash is very faint.