Pos 3L9

1¢ Franklin Issue of 1857-1861, PLATE 9
Pos 3L9, (Scott #24)

Scott #24 Blue,
Type V, Relief A
Issued only Perforate.

Top row stamps from plates 9 and 10 have the guide dot at the upper right. The guide dot is placed differently than on the preceding plates, hence it is very easy to identify Relief "A" stamps coming from these plates. In addition, 17 of the 20 top row positions from Plate 9 have a heavy dot on the shoulder just above the "O" of ONE. The dot on the shoulder is NOT found on positions 8, 9 and 10R9.

The Neinken diagrams do not provide enough information to plate the top row with 100% certainty. Positions 2L9 5L9, 6L9, 7L9, 5R9, 6R9, 8R9, and 9R9 are stated to have no plating marks. An attempt to expand the study on this area is attempted here.

The violet arrows are marks of note not shown in the plating diagrams and may not be constant.

FIGURE 1 below. Seventeen positions from Plate 9 have a heavy dot on the shoulder above the "O" of ONE.

FIGURE 2. (Red arrow below) Plating marks as indicated in Neinken. The heavy dot in Ornament "M" is the remains of the full ball.

FIGURE 2a. (Below) The heavy dot in Ornament "M" on another copy of 3L9.
Courtesy of Richard Celler

FIGURE 3. (Red arrows below) Plating marks as indicated in Neinken. Faint blurry dash plating mark cutting through the top of Ornament "R".

FIGURE 3a. (Below) Faint blurry dash plating mark cutting through the top of Ornament "R" on a different 3L9 copy.
Courtesy of Richard Celler

FIGURE 4. (Red arrows below) A vertical dash between the O and S or POSTAGE. A strong small dot above the right serif of "T" These 2 marks are not shown in the plating diagrams but have been confirmed by other students of this issue. See Figure 4a. below.

Figure 4a. (below) The same plating marks as shown in Figure 4 above on another copy.
Courtesy of Richard Celler

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Update 1/18/08