1857 1¢ - #19b

1¢ - Blue - Type 1¢
As type 1a, bottom right ornaments and plume are incomplete.
Bottom left plume complete or nearly complete
Perf. 15½ - Scott #19b (with 4 margins around the design)

Value

(with 4 margins around the design)
Used: $1,400-$2,900
No postmark with gum (MH): Does not exist
Full perfect gum, no postmark, no trace of stamp hinge mark (MNH): Does not exist

Statistics

Earliest date of use:
Sept 9th, 1857

Plate Size:
Sheets of 200 subjects (2 panes of 100).

A full pane of 100

Printer:
Toppan, Carpenter, Casilier & Co. using the die-to-relief-to-plate transfer process.

Watermark:
None

Quantity Issued:
300,000

Use:
The one-cent stamp was required to pay the fee for drop letters and
circulars under 500 miles. It was also the rate for newspapers and circulars.

What you should look for

Identifying #19b
(#19b is a Type Ic)

#19b is a type Ic design. The design on the sides of Type Ic are complete.
The design at the top is trimmed, some of the top ornaments have been burnished off.
The difference between type 1a and type 1¢ is that whilst 1a the design at the bottom is complete,
the bottom right plume is partially cut away,see the illustration above.

Only one plate produced the perforated Type Ic stamp, that being plate 4.

Notes on #19b

1) #19b comes 8 positions on Plate 4, two of which are on the bottom row, the rest occur due to plate wear.

2) The bottom row of plate 4 only just fits within the perforations. With such a tight fit
almost all examples have the perforations cutting into the design.

3) Despite what you may read, or the what the auction houses tell you, type 1¢ is exceedingly rare.
A glance at the auctions above tells you how common they are offered for sale. Probably at the rate of one every 3 months.

How many plates were there?

There were twelve plates of the 1¢ Franklin made, plate six was never used, probably due to it being damaged in it's creation.
Most of the plates were used for both the imperforate and perforated design. Some only produced one type or the other.
For instance, plate 12 produced only perforated stamps and the early state of Plate 1 produced only imperforate stamps.

THE IMPRINT

The printers imprint, one on each side of the sheet, the plate number is under the printers name

The printer changed the design of the imprint to a negative imprint in late 1860.
It can be found on plates 11 and 12

The Inspiration for the Design

Benjamin Franklin
Jean-Jacques Caffieri (1725-1792)
Marble, 25" high
The Peabody Collection, Maryland

The design was based off Jean-Jacques Caffieri's bust of Franklin.

The Essay's and Proofs

Vignette of Ben Franklin
Imperf essay on laid india paper

Unlisted 1¢ Liberty
Black, Vignette Die Essay on Proof paper
frame similar to 5¢ Jefferson
Probably attributable to Toppan, Carpenter, Casilier and Co.

5-E1a
Black, Vignette Die Essay on India

5-E1var
Black, Vignette Die Essay on India
Unlisted showing both Franklin and Washington

5-E1b
Black, Vignette Die Essay on Proof Paper

5-E1f
Black, Vignettes Die Essay on Proof Paper

5-E2
6¢ Black
Die Essay on India

How the perforated stamp came to the US

The Prince Consort essay

When Rowland Hill designed the worlds first postage stamp, the penny black, no provision was made for separating
the stamps. in 1847, six years after the introduction of the first stamp, Henry Archer submitted a two seperating
machines to the British postmaster general. These machines employed lancet shaped blades, however their effect,
was mixed at best. Soon after Mr Archer patented a machine which used perforation as a means of seperation, his
first trials with this machine were on the Prince Consort essay, an example is seen above. The Prince Consort was
Prince Albert, the design was not approved.

1854 Penny Red
Worlds first perforated postage stamp

In October 1853 the first perforated stamps were issued in the UK using new perforating machines built by David Napier
and Son Ltd, they were revenue stamps The first perforated stamps were revenue stamps issued in October 1853.

Aaron Brown, Postmaster-General 1857-59

In 1857 the new postmaster general was determined to introduce the perforation of postage stamps to the US.
Perforating machines, at the cost of $3,000 were acquired by Toppan Carpenter, along with $6,000 in new plates.
The machines were imported from England, but not from Napier comapny as one would expect, they purchased
rouletting machines from William Bemrose & Sons of Derby, converting them to perforating machines.
One problem is that these new machines could accommodate a relatively narrow sheet, which explains why
the stamps of the 1857 series are spaced so close together. The first stamps to be perforated were the
thirty cent, twenty four cent and ninety cent values.