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Printed by Toppan, Carpenter, Casilear & Co.
- Imperforate
Printed in Sheets of 200 - Panes of 100
Only the one-cent, three-cent and
twelve-cent stamps were issued in 1851. The
one-cent stamp was required to pay the fee
for drop letters and circulars under 500
miles. The three-cent stamp was the
workhorse of the group paying the fee for
pre-paid single letters. The five-cent
stamp, not issued until 1856, paid the
registration fee, although it is not certain
the stamp was issued for this reason. The
ten-cent stamp paid the foreign single
letter rate under 2500 miles. The twelve-cent
stamp paid twice the
domestic rate over 3000 miles. The
twenty-four cent stamp was for the single
letter rate to Great Britain. The
thirty-cent stamp paid the single letter
rate to Germany and the ninety-cent stamp
was issued as a catch-all for items
requiring large amounts of postage. Of course, any of the stamps could be
combined to make up the proper rate, leading
to some interesting and very collectible
uses. In some cases, higher value stamps
were cut in half, often diagonally, to make
up the lower rate. These are known as
bisects and, if certified as genuine, very
valuable to collectors.
The ten-cent
stamp was first issued in 1855,
the five-cent stamp in 1856
and the twenty-four, thirty- and ninety-cent
stamps not until 1860.
One-cent Stamp - Issued July
1, 1851 - EDUs of July 1, 1851 are
considered First Day Covers
Scott 5 - 1¢ Franklin Type I
(Pos. 7R1E only) - EDU: July
5, 1851 - est. 35,000 issued - 1c
Scott 5A - 1¢ Franklin Type Ib (from
Plate 1E only) - EDU:
July 1, 1851 (FDC) - about 210,000 issued -
1c
Scott 7 - 1¢ Franklin Type II (from
Plates 1E, 1L, 2, 3 and 4) - EDU
(Plate 1E):
July 1, 1851 (FDC)
EDU (Plate 2):
Dec. 5, 1855 - EDU (Plate 3): May 6, 1856 - about 12.3 million issued
Scott 8 - 1¢ Blue Franklin Type III (from Plates 2
and 4 only) - EDU: Sep. 21, 1851 (off-cover)
- note that only one stamp from plate 2 was
Type III, Pos. 99R2 and this is the most
desirable example of this type
- 1c
Scott 8A - 1¢ Franklin Type IIIa (from Plates 1E, 2
and 4 only) - EDU (Plate 1E):
July 3, 1851 - EDU (Plate 4): April 4, 1857 - (we
could not find an EDU for Plate 2) - est. about 1 million issued
There are many, many collectible varieties
of the one-cent stamp. This stamp is not
only collected by type, but also by plate
position and sometimes by relief (the
characteristics of the die used to make the
transfer to the plate). The authoritative
books on the subject were written by Stanley
Ashbrook and Mortimer
Neinken.
Three-cent Stamp - Issued July 1, 1851
- There were 9 plates used to print
the 3c imperforate stamp, i.e. Plates 1
through 8, and an unmarked plate, plate 0.
In addition, there were what are regarded as
"early", "intermediate",
and "late" plates of Plate 1 and
"early" and "late"
plates of Plate 2 and Plate 5. The
"early" and
"intermediate" plates and Plate 0
printed the stamps we refer to as Scott 10
and the "late" plates, as well as
Plates 3, 4, 6, 7, and 8, printed what we
refer to as Scott 11.
- 3¢ Washington (known
plates: 1E; 1i; 2E; 5E; and 0) - about 20 million
issued
Plate 1E EDU: July 1,
1851 (FDC) - 43 documented covers as of 2005;
Plate 1i (intermediate) EDU: July 12,
1851;
Plate 2E EDU: July 23, 1851; Plate 5E
EDU: July 19, 1851; Plate 0 EDU:
September 6, 1851
Scott 10a - 3¢ Washington - Printed on both
sides (only one example known)
Scott 11 - 3¢ Brownish
Carmine Washington - about 340 million
Scott 11 issued -
Plate 1L EDU:
Oct. 6, 1851; Plate 2L
EDU: Jan. 7, 1852; Plate 3 EDU: Jan. 15,
1852; Plate 4 EDU: Mar. 28, 1855
Plate 5L
EDU: Jul. 13, 1855; Plate 6 EDU: Feb. 18,
1856; Plate 7 EDU: Feb. 9, 1856; Plate 8
EDU: Apr. 14, 1856
Scott 11c - 3¢ Washington - Vertical half
(must be on cover)
Scott 11d - 3¢ Washington - Diagonal half
(must be on cover)
Scott 11e - 3¢ Washington - Double
impression
There are many, many collectible varieties
of this stamp. The Scott U.S. Specialized is
an excellent starting point, particularly
when trying to get a fix on the relative
value of the varieties, but even then can only
scratch the surface of all the varieties
of re-cutting that define this stamp. The authoritative
book on the subject was written by Carroll
Chase and is highly recommended as
well.
Twelve-cent Stamp - Issued July 1, 1851
Scott 17 - 12¢ Washington - EDU:
Aug. 4, 1851 - about 2.5 million issued
Scott 17a - 12¢ Washington - Bisect
(used to pay the 6¢ rate) Diagonal half
(must be on cover)
Scott 17b - 12¢ Washington - Bisect (used to pay the 6¢
rate) Vertical half (must be on cover)
Scott 17c - 12¢ Washington - Printed on both sides
Varieties of the twelve-cent stamp include
recuts, double- and triple-transfers,
cracked plate and part-India paper. The authoritative
book on the subject was written by Mortimer
Neinken.
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