Show Your US 1851-57 Imperforate Stamps

The 1L stamp look pretty special, like maybe an early printing with very little plate wear.

I'll post pics tomorrow.

Sticking with the recut theme, here's 78L4 & 79L4. I do have to admit, I have a thing for the ratty 3 cent Imperf's. Mostly because they are affordable and because you can find some pretty interesting stuff.

Anyway, the 78L4 shows a recut variety #29 were the lower right diamond block is tied to the label block.

Moyock13, I'm with you on the ratty stamps being cheap and interesting!! Nice recut.

Gary here are pics of the 1L stamp.

Thanks for the closeups, Stephen.

Those essentially-complete upper triangles strongly suggest a first-year plate 1L printing. That would narrow down the possible colors quite a bit.

Have you downloaded the plate/color timeline on stampplating.com?

http://stampplating.com/resources

I recently went through my 3-centers, and set aside all the early plate 1L printings I could find for a study project. I only found about a dozen copies showing impressions about as complete as your example.

Moyock13, Despite the miscut, your variety #29 pair is quite interesting, with well-struck, semi-transparent fancy cancels!

Hi Moyock13 and stampcrow --

Those are some nice varieties that you both showed. Thank you!

Regarding so called "ratty stamps" -- from the perspective of a "student" there is nothing wrong with "less than perfect stamps" (as I like to call them).

I have been collecting United States classic stamps for almost 40 years now -- and for the first half of that time I was fixated -- obsessed actually -- with only accepting perfectly centered and 100% sound stamps into my collection. The problem however was that by doing so, I could never be a "student" of the issues.

Again -- Moyock13 -- nice example of the recut variety #29 -- plus segmented grid cancels on 1851 3 cent stamps are not as common as one might think -- and the color -- at least on my monitor looks to be a nice medium to deep 1857 claret.

And stampcrow -- if you think your 1L stamp is a very early printing from plate 1L, and as you mentioned you truly believe it looks to be a "pale OB" -- you might want to set it aside for further study to determine if it is a scarce experimental OB which only comes from plate 1L.

Note: standard disclaimer applies regarding color comments -- as colors are impossible to definitively identify due to differences in scanner settings, graphic drivers, graphic hardware, monitor settings, etc.

Regards // ioagoa

Gary, it's funny, or maybe sad, I've been on the plating site many times but have not seen the color page.

The Yellow Brown is interesting but of course it's on my monitor and my stamp is in hand...

ioagoa, I have one APS certified exp OB stamp that's plated 9L1L.
It's very "bright" and has what I've read is the typical "oily" appearance.
My question would be, is there a duller version of the exp OB associated with plate 1L?

This is the 9L1L stamp. Moyock13 note the "less than perfect" condition!!

Hi stampcrow --

YES -- the 1851 EOB covers a wide spectrum, ranging from pale to deep color saturation -- and also includes dull and bright variants.

When I was setting up my color chart many years ago, and was struggling with how to best classify and arrange everything -- Bill Amonette suggested a schematic for me to follow -- and I have attached a copy of it FYI. As you can see, he recommended that the 1851 EOB's from plate 1 Late be arranged into 3 classifications -- pale to deep, bright, and dull.

In any event, it is impossible to colorize a stamp from a computer scan -- but to answer your question, YES -- there is a "duller" version.

Regards // ioagoa

100L2E 10A Relief B recut #24 Left inner line runs down too far.
Nice blue Columbia, MD cancel

stampcrow, noted! =)

ioagoa, thanks for posting the schematic. I can't tell one color from another. That may be the next challenge.

Speaking of ratty stamps, there are plenty of creases and tears on these two.

To hopefully show the differences between dull experimental orange brown (left) and normal EOB (right), here are two ex-Amonette examples:




Disclaimer: This image is provided to display variations in ink color between different stamps, which were scanned together. Because of variations in scanner settings, and because different display screens render colors differently, this image may not be suitable for confirming colors of stamps in hand or in other images.

Edited to say "dull experimental orange brown" rather than "dull experimental brown"

Classic Coins, Nice!

Have any idea what the cancels say? I'm assuming the left stamp says BOSTON in smaller letters. But the rest escapes me.

Thanks, Moyock13. The rest says U.S. EXPRESS MAIL, and, I believe, Mass at the bottom.

The second cancel is Cincinnati.

Moyock13, The stamp with the Columbia, MD cancel looks like a late-state printing.

Thanks to a trade with people from Facebook (both are probably members here somewhere) a #1 trade with Stan Shepp, and a 10A from Charles J DiComo (Plate "0". Near 4 margins, 1 line recut in ULT. Relief A). Considering what I've learned froM Charles, I'll take the plating of the 10A as gospel so don't really need conformation on plating, just sharing. Glad to finally be able to trade for these 2 missing stamps!