Show Your US 1851-57 Imperforate Stamps

I believe OB means Orange Brown

Aha! Thanks Bakerj.
So you have a few #10's?
Lucky man!

Honestly, I am not sure what all I got. Been going through totes, trying to get things sorted to the best of my abilities. I haven't even started looking at the stamps in the scans I posted. Once I finish the tote, then I will dive deeper into the specifics of what I have. If someone pointed out that I have "This, That, or the Other", I wouldn't complain one bit. HAHAHAHA. I usually don't ask unless I need help. I will take all the advice I can get.

I'm with you my friend, I soak the knowledge up like a sponge ...when I can understand it!
CC and Sinclair amongst others here are like oracles!

Yes they are. I have had a good experience here for the most part. I know there are some people out there in other hobbies that won't share anything with anyone. I learned the hard way with sports cards.

Yup I feel you
I am a member of a local Australian forum that just put people down constantly for asking any question, here it's way different with people actually encouraging collectors and assisting newbies like myself.
I've made 1 very close friend here and other acquaintances that enjoy my stuff, and I enjoy there stuff too...now enough love...back to stamps!

BakerJ, that second group that you found looks much nicer than the first! At least seven show sheet margins. These make them more desirable.

Laurie,

Thanks for your kind words about our community.

Your first stamp on the previous page possibly has a New Bedford Massachusetts postmark (common). Your second stamp is probably from plate 4, and it appears to have a guide dot at top right, making it a top row position.

In your second group;
The first stamp has nice, big, margins, with a probable sheet margin at bottom. It is from plate 2L or 3 with one line recut in the upper left triangle. The inking of the lower label block (THREE CENTS) is interesting.

The second stamp is from plate 1L, 2L, or 3. I see nothing remarkable.

The third one is a nice four-margin stamp from plate 2L or 3. It has some interesting skips in the right outer frame line (let us know if any of your stamps have plate position numbers written on the back).

The fourth stamp (Brooklyn NY) is the most interesting in this group, and it comes from the famous "three rows" of plate 3 left. The position is 59L3, 69L3, or 79L3. If the position number isn't written on the back of your stamp, we can figure out which of the three it is.

Here is a brief story of the "three rows":

After the stamp designs were transferred from the transfer roll to plate 3, the spacing between the eighth and ninth vertical rows of the left pane got gradually too wide toward the bottom, and the spacing between the ninth and tenth vertical rows was too narrow. To make the alignment errors less conspicuous when the sheets were printed, extra frame lines were cut into the plate between the eighth and ninth vertical rows at most of the horizontal rows. Conversely, the side frame lines were cut abnormally close to the design on some positions between the ninth and tenth vertical rows, and the inner frame line was omitted for some positions.

Here is a diagram from Carroll Chase's book that shows the unusual frame lines of the three rows:

Laurie, I put your Brooklyn stamp image in an image editor, then compressed it vertically to 10 percent of its original height to enhance the curves in the side frame lines. Then I overlaid it on the Chase plating print for plate 3 Left. This allowed me to confirm it as position 59L3 by matching the curves to 59L3 as well as the adjacent position, 58L3.

It's pretty neat to have the right frame line(s) of the adjacent stamp. Gives a nice visual of the extra frame lines of these Three Rows stamps. Makes an otherwise rough old stamp very interesting.

As some here know, plate 5 was taken out of service after printing the 1851 orange browns, and placed in storage.

In 1855 the plate was re-entered and recut, and placed back in service. The plate became corroded, likely from rust, while it was in storage. The effects of corrosion can be seen on stamps from many positions of plate 5-late, in the form of ink spots where there should be none.

This image of three stamps from position 58R5L show consistent spots of ink, especially in the S, and along the top frame line:

Here's a reconstruction of the big plate crack from plate 5 late; 74L5L, 84L5L, and 94L5L:

The crack is always fun to see. Plate 5-Late is an interesting plate.

Keep it clean Txstamp!