Show Your US 1851-57 Imperforate Stamps

Harper1249, Nice stamp! I agree with the 9L2L plating.

Moyock13, good eye, finding the DT!

Greetings all. Hope everyone's holiday is going well. Here's the latest one I've been looking at. It's been a tougher one to plate because of its lack of unique recuts. My best candidate so far is 51R8, with 71R8 coming in a close second.



- Relief A
- No inner lines
- Strong Outer frame lines that are for the most part straight.
- Top frame line does have a slight outward bow in it.
- TFL extends beyond RFL.
- BFL extends beyond LFL.
- URDB not recut.
- TLB does not appear to be recut.

Comparisons with Lund and Chase match up well. SSD image matches well with the exception of a doubling of the left frame line around Washington's nose. I'm not seeing that on any of the other images.

Regards,
Harper1249

Hi Harper, at a quick glance I see this as a B relief; small break at the top, lower impingement is covered by the CDS, two thin line spots at right oval. So, I disagree with your assessment of an A relief.

Both 51R8 and 71R8 have a curvy lower frame line and your stamp does not.

I'm not seeing the TFL with an outward bow, but I do see that the TFL narrows ever so slightly and thickens over the U of US.

I do agree that it is a plate 8 candidate.

Interestingly, while goofing around trying to plate your stamp I bumped across what I thought might be a plate flaw. Chase doesn't call it out at all, but I thought it was interesting.

Just at about 3:00 outside of the upper left rosette there is a little curlicue, looks similar to a backwards G.

I noticed it as well. I attributed it to just an odd way the ink was transferred in that area.

Thanks for your thoughts on the relief. I'll have to go back and look at why I thought it was A versus B.

Harper1249, I think I've got this one plated. Let us know if you've solved it.

Well I went back through all the A reliefs on plate 8 (assuming it's 8) and the last man standing for me is 63R8. It's got a LR guide dot and if I turn your head just right I can convince myself there is a guide dot (or portion) on mine. left FL on compression images match up good on this one as well. Not so much on the right side though.

Hi Harper, pretty close call. But like you stated, RFL doesn't match.

Your stamp


63R8

The apparent RFL mismatch with the 63R8 specimen could be due to one or both of the stamps not being flat when scanned. As has been discussed here before, paper bends can result in false negatives when doing compressed image analysis.

To compensate for possibly bent paper, it helps to compare the changes in width of the spacing from the tessellated area along the length of the frame line. Sometimes the edge of the tessellated area itself can look bent due to the paper not being flat and, if so, that is a key thing to consider.

Yes sir, concur. The 63R8 is the Lund copy. I've heard too, that some folks will (re)soak a stamp and then place in a drying book to flatten and correct any distortion.

I also did the compression test on the TFL, not a match in my opinion.

The TFL and LFR do not extend past each other. Chase, Lund and SSD 63R8 also do not extend past each other at this corner.

The TFL extends beyond the RFL. Chase, Lund and SSD 63R8 have almost the exact same extension.


The RFL extends below the BFL. Chase and SSD 63R8 has very similar extension showing. Lund 63R8 is trimmed too close.


Finally, the BFL extends past the LFL. Chase has very similar extension showing. Lund and SSD are trimmed too close.


Edited to add images.

Well, 63R8 is the best fit I can find on Plate 8. Moyock13, thank you for getting me straight on the Relief.

Classic Coins, you indicated that you had a good candidate. Whats you thinking?

Hi Harper,

I found 63R8 to be the best fit as well.

Here's your stamp with the Chase print image. The angle of the RFL may look different due to imaging issues, but I think the curves match well.

Harper1249, good call on the 63R8. One of the reasons I enjoy this particular thread is the open discussion and critiquing of ideas. This is always a learning event for me, hope you find the same. The knowledge of the participants here is a treasure.