The 5¢ and 10¢ Stamps of 1847

Part 3 (10¢)

Essays & Proofs

{The preeminent student of the 1847 essays, die proofs and plate proofs is clearly Clarence W. Brazer. His monograph, A Historical Catalog of U.S. Stamp Essays and Proofs - The 1847 Issue, published in 1947, the stamps' centennial year, remains the definitive reference. With respect to the proofs, I will cover only contemporary items, that is, those presumed made from the original die and plate from which the issued stamps themselves originated. Although the original die and plate were reportedly destroyed in 1851, many non-contemporary proofs were made in the ensuing years from duplicate dies; these dies having been created from the original 1847 transfer roll.}

There is only one known essay of the 10¢ 1847 stamp. It has an engraved vignette mounted on a frame which has engraved top and bottom labels, corner letters and numerals drawn in black ink and the balance in pencil and wash. There is some controversy about this essay as it is not certain whether the vignette belongs with the frame, or was added later. Dr. Henry Marasse, who just recently acquired both the 5¢ and 10¢ essays, feels the vignettes from both are not contemporary. However, this in no way diminishes the value of the essays, whose frames are deemed to be genuine and unique.

As with the 5¢, the best estimate is that only a few (between 15 and 20) die proofs exist from the original die. They have been reported in deep red, dark green, dim dusky green blue and black, and are all cut to stamp size. Due to the very minute differences between the original die proofs and the non-contemporary die proofs, the originals are more difficult to identify than with the 5¢.

{Plate proofs (those proofs issued in an actual stamp color) and trial color proofs (those proofs issued in other than the actual stamp color) will be called "proofs"; collectively. Clarence Brazer states that 6 sheets of 200 proofs were printed, 2 in each of the three colors: black, orange and brown. Of these, one of each color was overprinted "SPECIMEN". }

Unlike the 5¢, there are very few multiples extant of the 10¢ plate proofs. The reason for this is unclear.

{There is belief amongst some students that only one sheet of each color was printed, hence, a total of 3 sheets. Then, only parts of these sheets were overprinted with "SPECIMEN";, some of the impressions escaping the overprint. This belief is preliminary and is based upon there being no known duplication of plate position of the same color proof, overprint notwithstanding, of which these students are aware. This would halve the number of proofs.}

Similar to the absence of the 5¢ orange plate proof without overprint, another curiosity is the absence of a recorded copy of the 10¢ brown without overprint. {There are a number of occurrences of the other combinations. Obviously, as with any postulates based upon non-existence, a fortuitous find would dispel them.}

{Although an assumption, few can argue that 1847 proofs were not made from the virgin plate, as even the finest lines of the engraving are present in their resplendent detail.} There is known a black 10¢ plate proof with red overprint, showing the "B"; Type double transfer (position 31R - shift in "POST OFFICE";). The 10 cent double transfers are not contentious with respect to their early appearance on the plate and all four types, "A", "B", "C" and "D" should exist as proofs.

Multiples

Multiples of the 10¢ are exist in smaller quantities than even the 5¢ stamp. Any multiple {Horizontal pairs exist in about a 10 to 1 ratio to vertical pairs, based on my casual observance of auction catalogs, although oddly enough, the Scott Catalog does not indicate a premium for the vertical pair over the horizontal pair. The rational for the ratio is that the post office clerks cut the panes of 10 x 10 stamps into 10 horizontal strips of 10 stamps each. Then, as needed for customers, they would cut the necessary number of stamps needed from the horizontal strip of 10.} Strips of 3 are very uncommon and any larger multiple is a philatelic rarity. Most of the multiples are well known and documented.

The largest known unused multiple is a horizontal block of six and resides in the Gross collection. It is ex-Gibson, Ward and Ishikawa. There are two blocks of 4. Scott lists their value at $130,000. One is ex-Green and Klein and was sold to a telephone bidder at Kapiloff's sale. The other is in the Swiss PPT Museum, donated by Hirzel. There is a vertical strip of 4, position 1-4L, known as the "Looser"; strip, and a horizontal strip of 4 sold in Siegel's May 1987 Rarity Sale.

On the used side, off cover, the two largest known pieces came from the same cover and are pen canceled. One is 14 stamps, comprised of the entire top row of 10, showing the huge sheet margin, with the first 4 stamps of the second row. The second piece is a horizontal strip of 10, showing a complete row stamps. These two pieces, along with one of the above mentioned unused blocks of four, were donated by Hirzel to the Swiss PPT Museum. The next largest item WAS a vertical block of 6, canceled with a light red grid, donated by Miller to the New York Public Library. Unbeknownst to the Library, the bottom pair was cut away from the block, and offered for sale by auction. Mr. Philip Wall, a serious student of the 10¢ 1847, brought this to the attention of the authorities and the pair was returned to the library, were it allegedly reposes with the NOW block of 4. Scott lists a pen canceled block of 4 at $75,000. A footnote follows, "One block is recorded with a handstamp cancellation and it is worth considerably more";. Colonel Knight donated a pen canceled block of 4 to Brown University, were it still resides. Harmers sold the Grunin block of 4, pen cancel removed, in 1976. The only other block of 4 resides in my collection and is canceled with blue circular handstamped grids, positions 13, 14, 23 & 24R. A horizontal strip of 5 with red paint grid cancels, ex-Caspary and Ring, sold at the Ishikawa sale. I also have a similarly canceled horizontal strip of 4; a couple of other are known. On the cover of the American Philatelist, March 1997, is pictured what has been called the finest off cover multiple of the 10¢ 1847, a horizontal strip of 3. According to Ashbrook; "This strip was used on a letter that originated in Lima, Peru, and was addressed to Tepic, a small town in western Mexico. The letter had been carried privately to Panama City and turned over to U.S. Mail Agent Corwine. It was forwarded by a U.S. mail ship to the Mexican port of Mazatlan. The 30¢ postage had been prepaid and the strip applied to the cover."; Ashbrook's Special Service - January 28, 1952. The strip performed a postal service entirely outside of the continental United States. Unfortunately, it was removed from that cover before I obtained it.

On cover, there are two horizontal strips of 6. One is to New York from Mobile, AL, ex-Rust, Ward and Kapiloff, and the other to Paris from Philadelphia, ex-Gibson. The well known double rate cover from New York to San Francisco, ex-Sweet, Rust, Garrett and Kapiloff, is franked with horizontal strips of 5 and 3. Another horizontal strip of 5 cover, this one from Mobile, AL. To Washington, DC. (paying the five times the 10¢ rate) was sold at the Ishikawa sale, ex-Ackerman. The famous "Waukegan"; IL cover, with a horizontal strip of 4 canceled with beautiful red 6 bar grids, sold at the same sale, ex-Knapp, Caspary and Weill.

Of the six used pieces described here, four of them, including the two largest known multiples of this stamp, have been removed from the collector domain, never again to be sold, never again to grace the pages of an exhibit, never again for a collector to dream about acquiring, and as is the circumstance with many museums, squirreled away and probably never to be seen by the U.S. public. In the scenario with the New York Public Library, they have never exhibited the vast material Miller left to them and were unaware of the destruction of a block of 6, given to them for safekeeping. The Miller collection has disappeared into a black hole. I do not begrudge museums having and exhibiting collections of stamps. But when it comes to the howling rarities of philately, the items are best kept in the hands of collectors, who never really own the stamps they purchase. We do own the privilege of being temporary guardians, and do so with loving care and understanding, something museums lack. And when the day is done, we pass our holdings on to the next custodian, who will cherish and respect what they have.

The Four Deliveries

There were four deliveries of the 10¢ stamp to the Post Office Department in Washington. These delivery dates roughly mirror those of the first four deliveries of the 5¢ stamp, and are given in a chart in the appendix, along with the quantities of each, which totaled 1,050,000 delivered. Approximately 185,000 were destroyed after the issue was demonetized in July 1851, leaving roughly 865,000 stamps which were sold to the public.

Unlike the deliveries of the 5¢ 1847 stamp, the 10¢ deliveries are not as academically important since there is no contention as to whether the plate was re-worked, had re-entries or was cleaned. These actions, presumed to have been performed on the 5¢ plate, have changed the characteristics of the 5¢ stamps appearance. This did not occur on the 10¢ plate. The 10¢ deliveries are almost completely unintelligible from one another. The range between the first delivery and the fourth delivery is very narrow and barely perceptible. True, the very early impressions are razor sharp and crisp in detail, but even the fourth delivery has clear and distinct impressions.

There is a misconception about examples existing from a worn plate. There was no worn plate. Rather, these stamps are printing variations, e.g., dry paper, underinked, etc. Two facts explain the reason the plate did not wear. The first and foremost is the composition of the ink. They were likely carbon based pigments, similar to carbon black. Remember, that carbon, especially in its graphite form is actually used extensively as a dry and wet lubricant. Unlike the pigments of the 5¢ stamp, the 10¢ inks were certainly not abrasive. The second reason for lack of plate wear is that only 1,050,000 stamps were made from the plate. That is less than 25% of the 4,4000,000 stamps for the 5¢ stamp. As a matter of fact, if the 5¢ plate had made only 1,050,000 stamps, production would have stopped during the second delivery; then there would be only excellent impressions known from the 5¢ stamp as well.

Scott lists two shade for the 10¢ stamp, black and gray black. They once included a greenish black shade, but they discontinued the listing. They ought to do the same to the gray black listing. It is merely a very subtle printing variation, caused by underinking, and is within a range which almost always occurs with black stamps.

Plate Varieties

Perhaps one of the greatest accomplishments with respect to the 1847 issue was the plating of the 10¢ stamp by Elliott Perry. Previous to his plating the stamp, students of the issue believed it to be an impossible task. To quote Carroll Chase, the most renowned plater of his time, "No man, even had he an unlimited purse, could possible get together the requisite number of these pairs, strips and blocks of the 10¢ 1847 to do any extensive plating."; This statement is the ultimate complement to Perry's work. It started by Perry having represented Senator Ackerman in the purchase of the McDaniel collection. Perry then purchased the Chase collection and sold the important pieces to Senator Ackerman. During a voyage to England to make arrangements for Ackerman to exhibit his 1847's, Perry realized, with the discovery of a straddle margin copy of the 10¢ stamp and the extensive depth of Ackerman's material, a start of the plating could commence. By the time he had returned from London, 125 of the 200 positions had been noted as distinct and he had assigned positions to 50 of them. Over the course of the ensuing year, with the loan of material form other collectors, Perry was able to achieve the impossible; the complete plating of the 10¢ stamp.

Double Transfers

Traditionally, with most stamps, the most important and desirable plate varieties are double transfers. There a four, Types "A";, "B";, "C"; and "D";, all fairly well illustrated in the Scott Catalogue, but, like the 5¢, their descriptions are poor. The Type "B";, the major shift in "POST OFFICE"; is the most dramatic and is clearly visible with the naked eye. Again, akin to the 5¢, these four doublings are caused by incomplete erasures of previous impressions made by the transfer roll onto the plate. They are known on all four deliveries of the stamp and exist in the same quantity. The famous "Knapp Shift"; is not a double transfer, or for that matter, not a plate variety at all. It is a clever hoax and will be discussed in the fakes and forgeries section of this article.

Other Plate Varieties

There are three other dramatic Scott listed varieties from the plate. They are the "Harelip";, "Stick Pin"; and "Line Through 'F'";, and are included in the chart in the appendix. Since every position on the plate has been identified, each has characteristics which make it unique. The magnitude of these differences is what make a particular position desirable. Many of the positions are fall into categories. One group, which encompasses several stamps, is known as the "Short transfers at top";. It has a faintness in the central portion of the very top part of the impression. There is some question regarding what caused this. Perry agreed with Chase, that during the burnishing task of removing excess metal from the retouched plate, the plate finisher performed carelessly. Ashbrook believed that when the impressions were laid down onto the plate with the transfer roll, an incomplete rocking in of the image occurred near the top. Further research would do well here.

Position 59R has a dot above the center of the top frameline, over the "O"; of "OFFICE";. A couple of other positions show dots also, though, none this clearly. Plate scratches, particularly in the margins of the stamp, abound. In one place, specifically between 44R and 45R, there are more scratch marks than I have ever seen anywhere else on any U.S. stamp. Since almost all of the positions suffered some recutting of its framelines, a recut in itself would not constitute a group. But, those impressions which were recut improperly (e.g., those with spurs, extended lines, doubled lines or incomplete framelines) are interesting to study. Due to the sharp contrast between the ink and the paper, much of the minutiae lost on the 5¢ impressions are obvious on the 10¢ stamp. Several stamps exhibit traces of the horizontal layout lines which were used as a baseline for the location of the position dots. Inexplicably, some even show a double horizontal line.

Printing Varieties

Rawdon, Wright, Hatch & Edson produced both the 5¢ and 10¢ stamps and they were likely printed by the same pressman, on the same equipment and using the same paper. Therefore, it stands to reason that most printing varieties, by their nature, would appear on both stamps, albeit these varieties on the 10¢ exist in much smaller quantities due to the lesser size of the deliveries. As with the 5¢, these varieties are not constant and the more dramatic and extreme the variety, the more desirable it is.

Inking Varieties - Over inking, under inking, uneven inking (due to dry paper or improper inking, etc.), ink splatter (dots, droplets), ink smearing (of the impression after printing), foreign material between the plate and the paper.

Paper Varieties - Thick or thin papers, different paper colors or types, preprinting paper creases (paper is creased before printing; after printing the crease is opened to show the portion not printed), paper foldovers (the selvage is folded over and covers part of the impression; when unfolded, part of the impression is missing), inclusions and stitch watermarks.

Slip Printing - Also called "Double Print"; or "Kiss Impression";. Occurs when there is movement of the paper during the impression. Usually, only part of the impression appears doubled.}

Double Impression - Although Scott lists a "Double Impression"; for the 5¢ stamp, it does not for the 10¢. Having never seen a double impression on either stamp of the issue, I wonder if the listing for the 5¢ is erroneous and is intended to mean "Double Print";.

Cancellations

Since there was a thorough discussion of the purpose and genesis of cancellations in the 5¢ installment, there will be no redundancy here. I will elucidate the differences in the availability of cancels between the 5¢ and 10¢ stamps. Worth stressing, however, is the extreme rarity of any type of well defined cancel, more so on the 10¢ due to its limited production as compared to the 5¢. Ishikawa had only two fancy cancels in his sale; a Scarab and a Hudson River Grid , both on cover.

A larger discount is taken for manuscript (pen) cancels, which are valued at less than 50% of handstamped cancels, whereas the 5¢ prices at a little over 50%. On the 1847 issue, there are far less pen canceled stamps available than handstamped canceled ones, yet, they are discounted. Since the earliest days of stamp collecting, pen cancels have been regarded with disdain. While I will admit a manuscript "X"; on a stamp may not be not exciting, I yearn for a "Paid"; or dated (e.g. "May 21, '49";) cancel. The grids are the most common handstamp cancels, with town cancels next. Fancy grids of geometrics are highly sought after. The postal markings, increasing by difficulty are, Paid, Railroad, Waterway, Way, Free and lastly Foreign markings. Foreign markings applied by Canada are easier to find on the 10¢ than on the 5¢, due to the 10¢'s more frequent use there. Other than Canada, foreign markings are exceedingly rare. Demonetized usage cancels are like hen's teeth. Colored cancels are in short supply, and in increasing order of difficulty are Red, Blue, Black, Magenta, Ultramarine, Violet, Orange and Green. I have a 10¢ stamp with an unlisted orange/yellow town cancel from Mobile, AL. Numeral cancels, other than "10"; or "X"; are impossible to find. In the 11 years I have pursued this issue, I have only seen only a handful of legitimate examples, a "2";, "20";, a "24"; and a "40";; the "40";, off cover, sold in the Ishikawa sale for $5,175. including commission.

Fancy cancels are almost non-existent on this stamp. I have copies of the stamp with the red Scarab cancel of St. Johnsbury, VT. and the red Hudson River Mail Grid cancel of NY. I own another fancy red grid from Cheraw, SC. and also one of two known from Brattleboro, VT. The red Wheeling, VA. Control Grid marking adds $7,500 to the $1,300 catalogue value of the stamp, showing how limited and desirable that cancel is. The Herringbone cancels of Binghamton, NY. are believed by some to be fraudulent, and should only exist on the 5¢ stamp. The appendix includes a bibliography of reference material concerning cancellations and postal markings.

{A caveat; fraudulent cancels do exist on all classic stamps. Remember, there is no substitute for experience and learning. The more you know about the subject you are collecting, the better chance you have of avoiding problems. Always seek reputable dealers, who are knowledgeable in cancellations and obtain a certificate from an expertizing service if the item is without one.}

Usages

Domestic Usages - The 10¢ stamp paid the rate for single-sheet letters weighing under 1/2 ounce and traveling over 300 miles. As well, it could be used for double sheet letters or those weighing between 1/2-1 ounce and traveling under 300 miles, paying the double rate, and so on. This is an uncommon use of the 10¢, as two 5¢ stamps were the usual franking for this. As noted in the previous installment, and, of much significance is, many smaller cities did not receive allotments of the 10¢ stamp, they had to use 5¢ multiples to make up the rate. Covers paying the 300 mile plus rate are the most common for the 10¢, while those paying multiples of that rate are scarcer. Any usage with pairs or larger multiples of the stamp (particularly strips of 3 or more, are very scarce).

The Scott catalogue price for the stamp (whether on cover or off cover) is irrelevant for items which are in very short supply, e.g. scarce usages, desirable cancellations and well margined stamps. Similar to the 5¢, a uncommon usage is from California, which had a 40¢ per 1/2 ounce rate. These trans-continental rate covers are among the most desirable domestic uses and are gems of philately. Few uses are known from Texas or the three territories which received 10¢ stamps (Wisconsin, Minnesota and the Indian territory). I am unaware of any usages from forts. There are no recorded usages from Iowa, although some 1,650 10¢ stamps were delivered to that state. New Hampshire sports only three usages known from 1,800 delivered stamps, although many of the bisected covers are from there (see Bisected Usages following).

The 10¢ is also known to be used with certain local stamps and carrier stamps, the most frequent being Blood's local, which, by no means is common. Similar to the 5¢, those franked on Valentine's Day covers or those used from hotels command high premiums. Of the 865,000 10¢ stamps sold to the public, Creighton Hart and other experts concur that there are approximately 2,500 surviving covers, of which 5% to 10% are considered to be faked usages. Combination uses (the 5¢ and 10¢ on the same cover) is discussed in part 2 of this series.

Bisected Usages - Of all U.S. stamps, the 10¢ 1847 is probably the most famous to be subjected to bisected usage, although bisects were never officially sanctioned by the Post office department. The rate for a single letter sheet traveling under 300 miles was 5¢. Some post offices, having no supply of the 5¢ stamp for this purpose, would allow the 10¢ stamp to be cut in half and applied to a cover to prepay the 5¢ rate. The most common is the diagonal half ($12,000 in Scott), followed by the vertical ($35,000 in Scott), with the horizontal bisect (unpriced in Scott) being the rarest. In the 1947 edition of Brookman, there were a reported 45 bisect usage covers, but there are now some 80+ known in the Hart-McDonald listing.

Foreign Usages - Jon Rose states in his Classic United States Imperforate Stamps, that about 200 covers are known to Canada, and the majority of the 38 1847 stamped covers to the Maritime Provinces are franked with the 10¢ and not the 5¢ stamp. He sites 4 covers known to each Germany and France, perhaps a dozen to the British Isles and very few in total to Belgium, Mexico, Cuba and Hawaii. Usages from Canada number around 24 with a couple send by forwarders from Peru. I have 10¢ stamps in my collection showing a "butterfly"; grid cancel, a "snowshoe"; grid cancel and a target cancel, all used from Canada to the United States. While the covers to Canada and the Maritime Provinces are very desirable, those to the other destinations are truly rare.

Demonetized Usages - The 10¢'er is known to be used after the demonetization of July 1st, 1851, but is much more rare than the late use of the 5¢ stamp. There are only a couple of covers and less than a handful of off-cover examples. As with the 5¢, any black New York circular date stamp, or a small or large Boston "PAID"; in grid or any other cancel which did not come about until after demonetization, would be indicative of a late use. My collection includes a 10¢ with a New York ocean mail cancel, circa late 1854, and a black St. Albans, VT town Cancel, also not used until 1854.

Counterfeits and Forgeries

Although Brookman states in his 1947 edition of, The 19th Century Postage Stamps of the United States, "We do not know of any dangerous counterfeit of this stamp but we have seen a few crude fakes that would not deceive anyone that had ever seen a genuine copy or who had the slightest knowledge of stamps in general";, he is quite mistaken. Excellent philatelic counterfeits were made by Jean De Sperati, in an attempt to defraud collectors. They are often detected by a diagonal line extending downward from the left frame line, opposite the top of the left "X";. This is not accurate in itself, as several positions from the right pane, rows 5, 6 & 7, legitimately show this spur. Certain identification can be made with a 10 power magnifier since all the forgeries are offset printed and not engraved. I have four in my collection, and they are available at auction from time to time.

Since the mid 1930's, much controversy has surrounded a stamp known as the "Knapp Shift";, a purported double or shifted transfer. For the past 60 years experts lined up on either side of the issue as to whether it was genuine or not. The strongest proponent of its being legitimate was Stanley Ashbrook, who was a friend and dealer to the stamp's owner, Mr. Edward Knapp; Ashbrook's favorable opinion actually once graced the pages of The American Philatelist. Elliott Perry did not believe the shift was real, nor did Frank R. Sweet who called it a "paint job";; Sweet owned a complete reconstruction of all 200 positions. Some experts were not decided one way or the other or were reluctant to commit to an opinion. Weighing heavily against the shift's being real was the fact no other copy had ever been reported. Plate varieties require a confirming copy to be called such. Also, the stamp plated to position 23L, and yet no other 23L had ANY of the telltale doubling lines.

I am in possession of a letter of opinion from Lester G. Brookman dated September 1964, not only calling the stamp genuine, but claiming the best of the day's experts, including Perry, found the stamp had not been tampered with. Then Brookman added, "The 10¢ stamp known as 'The Knapp Shift' can well be considered to be the most interesting and valuable copy of the 10¢ 1847 stamp."; In April 1996, Robert A. Siegel Auction Galleries offered the Knapp Shift, described as, "Pos. 23L with striking and enigmatic doubling of the design at top and bottom...Unique."; The accompanying Philatelic Foundation certificate stated, "It is genuine with a small thin spot but is not a genuine shift."; There was no large red "WARNING";, which would always be placed on a certificate when the stamp in question has been tampered with in any way. I was at the sale the day of the auction. Way over one half of the people I spoke to at the sale believed the stamp to be genuine.

Well, the controversy is over. The Knapp shift is a outright fake. It is a faulty stamp from Pos. 23L to which lines were expertly added by drawing or painting. Red ink was applied on top of these lines to give the appearance of a cancellation. It is very evident under high magnification. It is unclear to me why the fake fooled so many experts. Knapp did once threaten Perry with a libel suit if he declared the stamp to be spurious. Ashbrook had business dealings with Knapp. Brookman is reputed to have had a half interest in the stamp at two different times. Siegel and the Foundation sat on the fence with their opinions. I purchased the Knapp Shift at the Siegel auction, knowing full well what it was. Undoubtedly, one of philately's most controversial stamps and greatest forgeries.