Position 53R4

1¢ Franklin Issue of 1851-1857, PLATE 4
Position 53R4

Type IIIa, Relief F
Issued both imperforate (Scott 8A) and perforate (Scott 22).

The red arrow under the U of U.S. indicates the small "F" Relief flaw. The Ashbrook/Neinken diagrams show this flaw exaggerated. A shoulder dot is found on nearly all "F" Reliefs from this plate except (according to the Neinken diagrams) Positions 54, 58, 59, 60, 99 and 100R4. See 52L4 for a detailed image of the shoulder dot.

Courtesy of Frank Mastroeni

Figure 1. (BELOW) Faint horizontal scribe line leading into the GUIDE DOT in lower right plume. As most of the illustrated plating marks have worn away or are covered by cancel, this patient was effectively plated by the location of the GUIDE DOT.

Figure 2. (BELOW) Detail of the lower left quadrant. Neinken illustrates 3 dots in shoulder (one covered by cancel), a blur in E of ONE and two additional marks in the N of ONE. There is also a dot of color and a curved gash of color inside of Ornament K not illustrated in the plating diagram but confirmed here as constant.

Figure 3. (BELOW) A low resolution image showing the dot of color in the shoulder and over the N of ONE.

Figure 4. (BELOW)
Courtesy of Siegel Auction Gallery (Sale 959 Lot 2078)

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REVISED 3.3.2010