Pos 57R4

1¢ Franklin Issue of 1851-1857, PLATE 4
Pos 57R4, (Scott #22)

Scott #22, Blue,
Type IIIa, Relief F
Issued both imperforate and perforate.
Had this been an imperforate copy then it would be Scott Number 8A.

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.

Note the heavy blurring above the "O" of POSTAGE. The heavy blur in the "E" of POSTAGE is also found on Positions 97-98R4. This mark is most likely a foreign object stuck to the transfer roller and carried along to several F relief positions.

The plating diagrams show a heavy vertical scribe line on the right side of this position. Plate 4 changed it's appearance quickly as it wore and not surprisingly many of the plating marks appeared and then quickly faded away. One of the most annoying aspects of trying to identify Plate 4 positions is the rapid change in appearance and the disappearing plating marks.

Courtesy of Jim Baughman.

Figure 1. (BELOW) Detail of the plating marks in "ONE".

Figure 2. (BELOW) Detail of the plating marks in "ENT" of CENT.

Figure 3. (BELOW) Marks of interest which may or may not be consistent. A shoulder dot is found on nearly all "F" Reliefs from this plate except (according to the Neinken diagrams) Positions 58, 59, 60, 99 and 100R4. See 52L4 for another clear view of the shoulder dot.

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