United States Stamps continued...

EXTREMELY FINE GEM. THE ONE-CENT 1851 ISSUE FROM PLATE 3 IS RARE IN ANY CONDITION. THIS SUPERB STAMP IS ONE OF THE FEW ORIGINAL-GUM EXAMPLES IN EXISTENCE.

According to Ashbrook and Neinken, Plate 3 is believed to have been made in March or April 1856, possibly to replace the defective Plate 2 and/or to meet the increased demand for stamps concurrent with the April 1855 change in postal regulations requiring prepayment of postage. For an unknown reason -- possibly a severe defect that arose in the plate -- very few stamps were printed from the new Plate 3 before it was retired, and surviving examples are rare.

Plate 3 comprised Type II stamps exclusively. Early impressions are found with a distinctive mottling or ink film caused by ink remaining on the plate after it had been wiped. The stamp offered here does not have the mottling characteristic, and, therefore, it must come from a later impression after the surface became more polished and uniform. This stamp does possess the remarkable Prussian Blue color found among Plate 3 stamps, and it can be plated to Position 3L3 with absolute certainty (note the double guide dots at top right, a distinctive feature of top-row Plate 3 positions).

With respect to Plate 3 stamps such as this, which can be plated with certainty, Neinken wrote (p. 220): "The fact is that in this day and age, if a stamp has been plated as a Plate 3 position, and this plating is substantiated by a knowledgable student or a Philatelic Foundation certificate, the Plate 3 stamp realizes far more in auction sales, or when purchased from a dealer, even though it has no definite Plate 3 characteristics. There is only one certain way to identify a stamp as being printed from Plate 3, and that is to definitely plate the position."

Plate 3 stamps have always been highly respected and enthusiastically collected, especially examples that show one or more of the distinctive features (surface cracks, mottling or Prussian Blue color). However, searching thru past sales of major 1c 1851 collection -- Chase, Emerson, Fleckenstein, Newbury, Ishikawa and Cipolla -- we are unable to locate another original-gum example that comes even remotely close to the condition of this stamp. In fact, we can only find an unused no-gum example, ex Emerson and Fleckenstein, that was graded Very Fine. The Chase collection had only two unused examples, neither with gum, and the 1925 Chase sale catalogue assigned great significance to Plate 3 stamps.

With 1999 P.S.E. and 2001 P.F. certificates, both identifying the position as 3L3. (Image)

EXTREMELY FINE ORIGINAL-GUM EXAMPLE OF THE 1851 ONE-CENT TYPE II IMPERFORATE.

With 2001 P.F. certificate (Image)