Show Your US 1851-57 Imperforate Stamps

ioagoa, I've been lazy and haven't plated all the stamps on that page so I did make some assumptions as for the chronological order.

The 2 bar Jan 23 is 69L3 so it would have to be 1853 or later. I've made the assumption that the 3 bar would be earlier than that. Bad science!!

Hi StampCrow --

Unless there is an update of which I am unaware (and there may well be), the EKU for plate 3 was Jan 15, 1852 -- so your Jan 23 "2-bar" could well be 1852.

Hard to tell from your scan if your 69L3 is an early impression -- but if Jan of 1852 -- then your 2 bar fits in perfectly with my 4 stamps in terms of chronology.

Take a look at the impression of your 69L3 and see what you think by way of plate wear on the extra fine lines -- which might aid in anecdotally dating the cancel.

Regards // ioagoa

Ah hah well there it is. My Chase book lists March 1852 as the earliest known date. I will certainly take a closer look at the impression and report back.

Chip, That's a really sharp impression on your 12-cent #17!

I have no experience with plating or identifying recuts on this issue, but the Neinken book on the 12-cent issue is available for download from the US Philatelic Classics Society site at the address below:

https://www.uspcs.org/resource-cent...nic-library/

ioagoa, my 69L3 is a very nice impression. All of the original lines in all 4 triangles are present along with other lines that often show first wear.

My Carroll Chase 1851-57 3 Cent book is a first copy. It says, "The earliest known date of use is March 9, 1852".

So I'm assuming your EKU is an update to my information which dates back to 1929.

Just found family album with these 1851-1857 imperforate stamps, and one from 1847 too.

Hi StampCrow --

For the "Earliest Known Use" dates on the 1851 3-cent issue, I have been using the USPCS Chronicle article titled: Earliest Known Uses in the 1851 – 1857 Era".

This article was published in August 1996, USPCS Chronicle Volume 48 – No. 3, Whole No. 171 -- authored jointly by Elliot Omiya, Keiji Taira, Mark Rogers, Richard C. Celler and W Wilson Hulme II.

This article is now almost 25 years old -- so there may well be other updates to the information it contains - which I did not check.

In any event, this article lists January 15, 1852 as the EKU for the 3-cent imperforate plate 3.

Regards // ioagoa

caniche1, the top two stamps look quite nice. The 1847 stamp is unfortunately damaged. The three-center is cut in at top and close at bottom left but is attractive. The left frame line is I think of some interest, which I leave to those more knowledgeable to address.

ioagoa I will refer to that article from this point on.

Thanks, I'm glad we dug into this a little more.

My latest acquisition type II #14 I think!

That's a familiar article.

There are some updates of course scattered throughout - I should attempt at some point to make and maybe maintain an updated list. In time, I may try to put that together.

edit: Wilson was very good at keeping the Scott catalog updated with Scott major number EKU updates, so that is another good reference. For the by-plate stuff, however, I don't think Scott has all of that.

Jim Allen had an article in the May 2020 USPCS Chronicle "The 3¢ 1851 Stamp Plates: Color Changes and Earliest Documented Uses." Anyone interested enough in the 1851 issue to be following this thread 79 pages in should be a member of the USPCS. I'll sponsor anyone that wants to apply for membership.

Yes, Jim's article is required reading for any 3c collector.

Hi txstamp (and SPQR) --

In addition to the article just mentioned by SPQR -- there was also an EKU update in Chronicle 197 -- Feb 2003 -- for the EKU from Plate 0 -- (authored by Dave Watt and Bob Hegland) -- that moved the date for that plate up by 2 days from 9/8/1851 to 9/6/1851.

Interestingly, that same article also discusses the usage period for the NY CDS with integral 4 bar killer -- (which you asked about in an earlier post). More specifically, according to this article, Keiji Tiara had compiled a record of all of the NY 4-bar cancels he had seen -- and based on his compilation, dated the period of usage for the NY 4-bar from 9/3/1851 to 11/29/1851.

Regards // ioagoa

Add Gary Granzow's article :
"The Plates of the 1851-57 3c Stamps of the United States"
to the list. There is EKU material in there as well.

Chronicle whole number 204, from 2004.

ioagoa: thank you for the pointer about the 4-bar cancel. Keiji (KG) was a close friend of mine, and we used to discuss New York cancels regularly. He was a real student of that and many other things.