Show Your US 1851-57 Imperforate Stamps

Rich60 - Its hard to be 100% sure from the grainy scan but your 1c Franklin stamp appears to be 2R1E. It also bears some similarities to 1R1E, but I think 2R1E is probably right. A better scan would help.

If I'm right, its just a #7, but top row right pane Plate 1E stamps are sought after. Its a good/interesting position, if, indeed that is what it is.

edit: never mind. I finally saw your text beneath your posted scans, and you've already plated it to 2R1E. Good deal. That's a nice position, congrats.

Moyock13, That's a great example of the plate scratch on 38L1L. It shows better than on the Chase print.

Hi Classic Coins
No the Auburn is not plated. I can try to do a better scan if someone wants to take a crack at it ?

Thanks
Rich

Hi Rich,

I took a look at the Auburn stamp, and I plated it to position 26L4. The Stamp Smarter plating project could use a clear 1200 DPI scan of this stamp.

This cover came in the mail today. I was a little excited seeing the difference in color between the two 11's.

What do you think?

It is interesting to have the two differences on the one cover, good catch!

Moyock13, Why do you think the cover is franked with two stamps?

Assuming the second stamp properly belongs on Moyock's cover above, the sender took the envelope to the PO with 1 stamp on it. Found to be overweight. Bought a second stamp there. (There being no evidence of forwarding, which is the other common reason to have a second stamp applied.)

Here's a stamp added for forwarding on the second leg. Bloomington, IN to Terre Haute, IN to Madison, WI. Likely 1857 use.

I wondered why the second stamp wasn't cancelled and tied to the first and the envelop. Normally wouldn't stamps be placed closer together?
I agree with John B., the originator possibly found that there would be more postage required. I don't know the postal rates from Nelson, NV(?) to Madison CT(?) in the 1850's (I have a tough time reading hand writing).

But why wouldn't the originating post office cancel both stamps?
Could the second stamp have been added while the letter was en route?

Btw, back of the envelop is blank.

If the Nelson cover was taken to the post office with a stamp on it and found to be overweight, the second stamp could have been sold and affixed at that time by the postal clerk, and that would help explain the two colors. But both stamps would have been canceled at the time the letter was accepted in this scenario. It's unlikely that the postal clerk would hand stamp one, then pick up a pen to cancel the other.

The cover appears to be addressed to Oneida, Madison County, which would be New York. But I can't read what is below Madison Co.

Classic Coins, you're correct. It is Oneida, Madison County, NY. I dropped the cover address into retroReveal.

#11/11A - Two with green cancels, and the third, I believe, is an olive Lancaster PA CDS. Does anyone know of an olive Lancaster PA CDS?

Classic Coins -- On your 11A with the olive green Lancaster cds cancel -- the sheet margin at bottom shows a clear finger print of the printers assistant from when he pulled the sheet from the press. Very nice conversation piece! I did not try to plate the stamp -- but typically those finger prints are seen on position 100R (sheet margin at right is also wide, although plate 2L has some wide inter-pane spacing between some of the vertical columns on the right pane). Have you plated the stamp yet?

Chase has a section in his book about color cancellations and one of the 6 most common towns with green cancels is Lancaster. He called it the classic green, or something to that effect. Lancaster is absent from his (very short) list of towns that used olive cancels. Interestingly, Littleton NH is listed as using both colors. Also, Chase makes it very clear, many times, that colors vary - there were many different shades of green (and all the other major colors, for that matter). Even though he said that (basically: colored cancels of the period could be thought of as a spectrum, rather than a certain number of discrete colors), he DID distinguish between green and olive. ALSO, for many towns, the color of choice tended to vary from batch to batch. Lastly, here are a few of my 'greens' including York PA, and (what I believe is) a Lancaster, too, like what you've shown. Note the 2x York - they look like different shades of green. The last one is a really rich green New London CT. Ta-da:







ETA: Classic Coins, I agree that the green of Lancaster has a bit of an olive-y tinge to it. I think Chase saw the cancel, but called it green.