Show Your US 1851-57 Imperforate Stamps

Now that is a beautiful stamp!

I'm a;ways slow on the upload, but here's a top row like what ioagoa showed. Thought I could share it. The second stamp I've plated 42R1L. I thought it was just inking issues but maybe it's also a late printing..?

Thanks, rlmstamps2012.

Stephen, Those are some great plate 1L worn-plate examples.

Here are a couple of 3-cent stamps that I have always wondered about in terms of the color of the cancellations. Definitely not worth sending in for a cert -- as both stamps are average to fine centered and have minor paper faults -- but at the same time, both have colored cds cancels that are potentially scarce.

The first one is a Scott #11A -- unplated -- and has a "possible" orange cds cancel -- (town is indistinct).

The second one is a Scott #11 -- position 69L4 -- and has a "possible" brown cds cancel -- (town on this one is also indistinct).

I have not seen enough confirmed copies of orange and brown cancels to say if either of these would get clean certs from the perspective of the color of the cancellation -- but nonetheless, they still make a nice showing on an album page of colored cancels.

Regards // ioagoa

Note -- the usual disclaimer regarding identification of colors vis-à-vis online scanned images applies. More specifically -- because of variations in scanner settings, and because different display screens render colors differently, these images are not be suitable for confirming colors of cancellations / stamps in hand or in other images.

Hi ioagoa,

I'm taken by the orange cds. Nice! Looks like CANDIA, New Hampshire (NH) cds. PO established in 1815.

Thanks for sharing.

Here is an #11A (88L3) on a ladies cover canceled in black by a fancy PAID 3 hand stamp in Ipswich Massachusetts. The red CDS has an inverted 1.

I don't know the significance of the markings on the right side of the back of the cover.

2/5/32 W.T.P.
LUL/62

My guess is folks who have previously owned the cover and the date purchased.

Looks like it was plated in 1954.

If you look closely, there are other markings on the back cover along the lower edge. Either erased or faint.

Thanks for your inputs, Moyock13.

I just realized after posting this that I purchased this cover from Bill Amonette. So the LUL/62 could be his database record number, but it doesn't look like his normal format. I'm not sure if the position annotation is Bill's.

I think you're right that the 2/5/32 W.T.P.could be an owner's purchase record.

The '54 under the plate position annotation would be the year of use.

11A pair from sheet positions 13L2L and 14L2L, with a Jul 7 1857 Norristown CDS. The color is yellow brown.

This is one of those favorable mis-cuts, showing parts of five other positions.

This is my smallest cover, franked with a yellowish rose red #11A, and sent from Wellington, Ohio to Oberlin, Ohio.

These two small towns are only 8.7 miles apart, so the sender didn't include the state in the address. The docketing states that it was received five days after it was posted, but the letter simply may have not been retrieved from the PO box until five days later.

I like the inscription on the back flap, that reads: Please an . . . swer soon.

The cover is ex-Amonette with a note from him stating that this is the smallest cover that he has seen that was mailed. The note includes his database record number at the bottom.

Great piece Gary!! Love the YRR color and of course the Amonette notations.
This little cover if I remember correctly was my first 1851-57. I liked the overlapping cancels.

There's a single page letter content from a young man to his parents.
Full size sheet of thin paper stuffed in this little cover.

Well, if we are going to whip out rulers and measure the smallest one, mine might be in the running for smallest:


In this Age of COVID, this cover is in the bank and the branch has been closed for quite a while, so I don't (think I) have easy access. So.... technically, I have never measured this cover. I bought it in 2009. Also, I have not plated it. It is a 10A with nice color. Comparing images, it is clearly small, but I think (after flipping back and forth between images) the previous two are slightly smaller.

mooter while you may not qualify for the smallest cover due to lack of measurement..., you're stamps color is spectacular!
Isn't it great something that old can still be so vibrant?!

I have a couple that appear similar. I call them "ripe tomato".

Really pretty, SC! Just about ready for pickin'.

It is amazing that some of these can look so fresh and rich-in-color after all these years. When I look for a new 10/10A, I look (probably) first at color, and not "Is it OB, or some shade?", but "Is it fresh and rich?" I've got enough copies that I don't need another average washed-out copy. Of course, if there is another aspect that 'grabs' me, like a plate variety or a catchy cancel or beautiful margins, I have to accept the freshness and richness, as it is.