Pos 17R5

1¢ Franklin Issue of 1857-61, PLATE 5
Position 17R5

Blue,
Type Va, Relief B
Issued only perforated.

NOTES:
Ornaments L, M and N on stamps coming from the 2nd horizontal row right pane exhibit various combinations of shortness or completeness. The different combinations can be helpful in quickly narrowing down position possibilities. 17R5 shows Ornament L as "not quite" complete and Ornaments M and N complete.

This position has a break in the top curved line above the "S" of "US." Also note the lack of dashes below the top line. Many of the Type Va "B" reliefs share this feature.

Figure 1. (Below) Small broken smear mark in "G" of POSTAGE. This plating mark is illustrated in the Neinken plating diagrams.

Figure 2. (Below) Small vertical dash or scratch to the left of Ornament "O". This plating mark is accurately shown in the Neinken plating diagrams.

Figure 3. (Below) Various blurs and plating marks (red arrows) shown in Neinken, but this photomicrograph shows the subtlety more accurately. The plating mark in the "T" of CENT is very faint on this position (the mark is a carryover from 18R5 and 19R5, where it is stronger). The violet arrows indicate a small dot located directly below the "T" of CENT, and a diagonal blur at lower right, both of which have been confirmed by other students of this issue to be constant.

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Revised 5.14.2023