Show Your US 1851-57 Imperforate Stamps

Hi Chip, I recognize that cover from "the sale" last Oct.

Centerline plate 1E material that looks like that is not easily found.

Very nice.

Very nice indeed, chipg.

Tex and CC-
Yes, that and the 3-denomination cover on page 2 of this thread were two of my three 1851-issue acquisitions from that sale. They were the three items I wanted and I got them for what I considered reasonable amounts.

Here are the stamps from the third - just a pair of Type IV Scott 9s - positions 55-56L1L:


and here's the cover (circular) from New Orleans to Austria that they are on:


Very happy with them all.
Chip

Speaking of bottom row left pane plate 1E material, I do have this 92-93L1E pair.
These are Ty II, #7.

Hi TX - I have a similar cover from the same correspondence.


These seem to be scarcer than covers with '47s or #12. The US postage to port for the Cunard Sailing to Halifax was never a published rate and was not set by the US-GB treaty. The US charged ordinary postage to the port until sometime in '54 when the PO began charging the 5 cent British Open Mail Rate for mail to Halifax.

chipg and txstamp, Those are outstanding pairs! Don't you love it when you get parts of someone else's stamps?

There has been some great stuff posted to this thread, but that 92-93L1E pair that Tex just posted is in my mind one of the finest pairs of blue stamps you can obtain. Just incredible.

Here are a few more examples of 3c 1851 imperforate "philatelic history" -- these 3 stamps ex-Chase -- from his original plate reconstructions as photographed by the Smithsonian. The first is 40R1E -- the second is 64R1E -- and the third is 55L2L.

ioagoa, Those stamps used in the Chase Smithsonian prints are philatelic history indeed! I've always wondered if any of the Chase print stamps ended up in my collection, but I seriously doubt it.

I'd be interested in knowing how you acquired them.

Were these stamps culls from his platings, or do you have some of the platings themselves?

txstamps and classic coins --

Regarding the ex Chase photo stamps and how I came to acquire them -- all I can say is that it was pure luck.

When I first discovered that I had stumbled upon a number of these stamps, I attempted to research what happened to the Chase photo stamps after his death in May 1960.

I learned that the Chase platings were sold intact as a complete set in a Samuel C. Paige auction held on December 8, 1961 (lot # 14). Fast forward to October 21, 2010 -- Siegel's sale # 996 of Wagshal's 3c 1851 -- 1857 collection -- lot # 3003 in that sale was described as the Chase / Card plating -- and the lot description stated, in part, that Card purchased Chase's plating and then spent years improving upon it. If you closely examine the extract photo in the Siegel sale catalogue -- picturing the top half of the left pane of plate 1 early -- there are a handful of ex Chase photo stamps included. And, no I was not the buyer.

My guess, and this is only a guess, is that as Card upgraded (and also remounted) the Chase plating, he either sold off or traded away those stamps he did not want -- and that over the years these stamps have, more likely than not, scattered widely among 3-cent collectors.

Unbelievably, the 2 stamps I posted earlier this evening from plate 1E were found on ebay -- and the 2L stamp was part of a trade with a fellow 3-cent collector. I also stumbled upon a number of these ex-Chase stamps in a bulk 3-cent lot I purchased around 6 years ago -- but until recently when I started to confirm some of the plate positions, I did not even know I had them. You can imagine my surprise when I went to compare my stamp to the stamp in the Chase photo -- and realized that the stamp I was holding in my tongs was, in fact, "the" stamp in the Chase photo.

Again -- pure luck.

Here is 88L1E on part India from the Chase reconstructions. I have a few and may have some others, whenever I get a chance to check...

ioagoa, Thanks for answering our questions about the Chase photo stamps you acquired. Your story is postal history in its own right. Even the Chase photo collection was subject to the philatelic continuous improvement process!

Winston, Thanks for showing your Chase photo stamp too.

Seeing both of your stamps makes me now think I could have a Chase photo stamp when I never considered it a possibility before.

Here are a few more pieces of philatelic history -- and in one of my favorite areas of study -- which is the range of colors seen in the 1851 3 cent imperforate issue. These examples of the plate 2L and plate 3 orange browns were sold together as a single lot in Siegel's Amonette sale # 783 in October 1996 -- Lot # 61 -- each on a mounting card written up by Dr. Chase -- and with additional notes verso by Bill Amonette ...

Thank you for reminding me about Devere Card.

I used to know about this, but, alas, I stepped out of the hobby for awhile, and I still can't remember what I've forgotten.