Show Your US 1851-57 Imperforate Stamps

Hi, stallzer,

During construction of plate 3, the 8th, 9th, and 10th columns of the left pane were entered into the plate with bad alignment. The spacing between the 8th and 9th columns got gradually wider toward the bottom, while the spacing between the 9th and 10th columns got gradually narrower.

A worker recut the frame lines and inner lines in such a way as to make the bad spacing less conspicuous. Extra lines were added between the 8th and 9th columns from the fourth row down, with two extra lines being added to the lowest positions, resulting in four vertical lines on the left side of positions 89L3 and 99L3 where there should have been two.

Conversely, on some positions between the 9th and 10th vertical columns where the entries were too close together, only one vertical line was recut where there should have been two, and the single recut frame line was cut where the inner line should have been, resulting in a "frame line takes place of inner line" variety.

Position 69L3 is Variety #9 – One Extra Line at Left, and Frame Line Takes Place of Right Inner Line
Position 70L3 is Variety #7 – Frame Line Takes Place of Left Inner Line

See the following link for the list of recutting varieties on this issue:

https://www.uspcs.org/stamps-covers...amp-plating/

The diagram below from the Chase book shows where all of the unusual frame line and inner line combinations occur on the right "Three Rows" of the left pane of plate 3.

Beautiful covers Stallzer.

TY Harper.

Thanks CC, great explanation and visuals. Much appreciated.

You're welcome, stallzer.

Here is a stamp from "Three Rows" position 89L3 showing four vertical lines at left and only one line at right. The line at right merges with the diamond blocks (at least on this printing).

Hi. Here are a couple of stamps I failed to plate after much effort. Would anyone like to take a shot?


Thing One





Thing Two

Can someone help with IDing this one?

Hi NicholasC. Your 3c with the blue Philadelphia cds is from the left plate of Plate 0. It is a very nice example of position 42L0. It is a B relief showing a guide dot on the left side of the lower right diamond block. Another unique feature that helps identify this position is the left inner frameline which goes up through the upper rosette and triangle.

Regards,
Harper1249

Hi ttreen. Thing Two does not have an inner frameline on the left side which helps narrow it down to Plates 1E, 1i, 5E & 5L. I am plating it to position 35L1E or 35L1i but I am unable to say which one based on the Lund, Chase and SS examples available to me. There was no recutting done when Plate 1E became Plate 1i. They only re-entered the positions, so differences between the two plates are very subtle. Perhaps Ioagoa, ClassicCoins and others have access to more examples to compare it too.

Regards,
Harper1249

Found this identified as #10. Could it be?

Hi, NicholasC,

The stamp immediately above with the two pen strokes on Washington's head isn't a #10, but it's better. It's a #11 from position 97R6, which shows a plate flaw on the lowest part of the neck.

Hey folks .. I could use some help with Scott # on these .. don't need to know the plate position, just want to know if 10, 10A, 11, or 11A as best as can tell.

All 11A. If they were Orange Brown, they would be 10A. If they did not have inner frame lines on the sides, they would be 11. Your 1st one is a very nice 4-margin example.

Yes, the first one is from the top row of plate 1L and should be easy to plate.

The one with the MAR 18 cancel gave me pause: It appears to be position 52L2, but I can't tell the state. If from the early state it would be a 10A even if the color doesn't scream orange brown.

Thank you both. Unfortunately that 1st stamp has a small thin. Is there a better picture needed for the MAR 18 stamp that can help? I'm hoping one of these is a 10A.

The interesting feature of the MAR 18 dated stamp is that the panel at the top is connected by a solid line to the right diamond. I haven't seen this on other stamps. I was hoping that feature makes it easier to identify.

Update: I was looking at the 3c plating site. The 52L2 stamp there has that same feature. It exists on both the early and late. The thickness of the line is much heavier on the earlier plate, which seems to match better with my stamp.