The Die Varieties of the Nesbitt Series of United States Envelopes Part 29

499 5 L. M. 133 x 200 H

VAR. 40.

499a 5 L. M. 133 x 200 H

FIFTH ISSUE: 1864-1865.

THREE CENTS, ROSE; THREE CENTS, BROWN; SIX CENTS, ROSE AND SIX CENTS, PURPLE.

In the Postmaster-General's report for 1864 it is stated that "during the last session of Congress a bill was pa.s.sed for the relief of the contractor for furnishing the department with stamped envelopes and newspaper wrappers, under the provisions of which the existing contract expired on Sept. 11, 1864."

With the renewal of the former contract Nesbitt changed the dies of the two, three and six cents. The first we have already exhaustively treated. It is, of course, the two cents, black, "U. S. POST". All these dies remained in use until June 30th, 1870.

As a matter of history it may be noted here that the three cents printed in brown, likewise the six cents rose, both on official size, were issued in July, 1865. The dies have a portrait of Washington facing to the left in a plain oval. It is enclosed in a frame of colorless lines. Inscription above "UNITED STATES"; below, "THREE CENTS" or "SIX CENTS", in block capitals. Large numerals of value at each side.

None of the Nesbitt die varieties have given the writer so many anxious hours and have required such prolonged study as the three cents of 1864. Indeed, the final solution of the problem of cla.s.sification of the various dies was only arrived at after more than two years continuous research. Like the famous balancing of the egg of Columbus, the problem, when solved, is extremely simple. Looking backward on the long series of failures, it seems strange that the chief characteristics have so long escaped the attention of cataloguers. The fact, however, is patent. Even as thorough and painstaking a student as the late Gilbert Harrison who, in 1895, chronicled, as he thought, all of the existing die varieties of the three cents has failed to observe the most important differences. Indeed, in the entire philatelic literature dealing with the Nesbitt dies of 1864 there is but one allusion to the feature which const.i.tutes the surest means for the identification of the die varieties, and this is only a single sentence contained in the Historical Notes of Messrs. Tiffany, Bogert and Rechert. It reads:--

"It is worth mentioning, however, that while dies 9, 15 and 26 (the latter the die under consideration) all have the small bust of Washington, there are small differences in each which show them to be different engravings. * * In die 26 the front hair shows only five locks and the back hair only four lines."

We shall presently see that, like the three cents, red of 1853, (Die A) the diemakers have produced different groups of heads which, once known, are not only an absolute means of differentiating the varieties, but also protect the collector from acquiring a mult.i.tude of the same die.

Although, as stated above, the die of the three cents rose equals that of the three cents red in the use of various heads, it is, otherwise, quite dissimilar to the first issue, as will be seen presently.

As in the varieties of the two cent dies the horizontal and vertical dimensions of the three cents vary greatly. After careful research and taking the advice of experienced philatelists, it was decided to adopt only two sizes for cla.s.sification: i.e.

Size A:--to include all stamps measuring horizontally 24 mm. but not exceeding 25 mm.

Size B:--to include all stamps measuring horizontally 25-1/2 mm.

or more.

In our study of the three cents red of 1853 we noted, in addition to the various heads, some minor differences in the s.p.a.cing of the letters forming the inscription. Referring now to the three cents of 1864, even the unskilled eye of the layman will be struck with the surprising changes, not only in the s.p.a.cing of the letters forming a word, but, also, in the relative position of the words to each other and their distance from a definite point, such, for instance, as the figure "3."

The subsequent cuts well ill.u.s.trate this point.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

In the first the "S" of "CENTS" is several mm. distant from the right figure "3": in the second it is close to "3". The same remarks apply to the "U" of "UNITED" in its relative position to the left figure "3". In the second cut there is also a square period after the final "E" of "THREE".

[Ill.u.s.tration]

Looking at cuts 3 and 4 the great variety of s.p.a.cing between the letters of a word is strikingly apparent in the word "THREE." These differences are easily detected by the 10 mm. unit distance measurement, which has been explained in the introductory chapter of this series of articles. The subjoined diagram proves that there are at least three forms of each word, and, with a little study, the collector will soon recognize the leading types.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

It seems strange that such great and palpable differences remained unknown until 1892. Quoting from the work of Messrs. Tiffany, Bogert & Rechert, we are, however, informed: "Heretofore it has _not_ been noticed that there are a large number of minor varieties of this die depending on the relative position of the parts."

Commenting on Die 26 (three cents rose) the writers make some valuable suggestions, but they discourage the would-be student from going deeper into the subject by the closing paragraph: "So few collectors would be interested in looking for these varieties that it has been thought unnecessary to devote s.p.a.ce to them in a general work." In the writer's opinion the most valuable hint thrown out by Messrs. Tiffany, Bogert & Rechert is contained in the following sentence: "If a thread be laid along the lower stroke of the "U" it will pa.s.s at different distances from the tip of the nose and fall on different parts of the right numeral, of the s.p.a.ce below it, or even as low as the "S" of "CENTS."

Why these experts stopped at the gate and did not enter is one of those freaks of the human mind that defies explanation. Certainly the person who made this observation was on the very threshold of discovering a scientific cla.s.sification of this elusive die. The writer confesses that, after having independently evolved this system of cla.s.sification, nothing has given him greater satisfaction than to find that the basic idea had been chronicled as far back as 1892. To-day it is well known that a line prolongation along the "U" of "UNITED" establishes five distinct cla.s.ses. As this system has been fully described in a lecture given by the writer before the Boston Philatelic Society, (April 19, 1904) which lecture has also been published in pamphlet form, and, as this cla.s.sification has been accepted by the writer of the latest Scott Catalogue, it seems unnecessary to go into the details, especially as the subjoined diagram is self-explanatory.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

It is evident that we now possess various means for the cla.s.sification of the three cents die varieties, but a system based solely on a line measurement, as has been stated heretofore, would not guard the collector sufficiently from acquiring a number of the same dies, due to unavoidable mistakes of measurement. To prevent duplication of dies it is imperative to know the various heads.

Luckily the distinctive features are quite plain and it is easy to divide the heads into five cla.s.ses for, as in the first issue, the die cutters have adorned the head of Washington with a variety of coiffures.

In Heads 1 and 2 there is a _triangular open s.p.a.ce_ between the middle bunch of hair and the lowest strand which meets the queue.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

[Ill.u.s.tration]

HEAD 1.--The queue consists of three vertical strands extending from the top of the head to the neck. Next to the queue are 3 rear locks, of which the middle one is a large, pear-shaped bunch, consisting of five fine strands, while the second highest is by far the longest, and cuts into the queue, resembling the stem of a pear.

HEAD 2.--Same as Head 1, but the second lowest strand of hair in the pear-shaped bunch is the longest and does not extend into the queue. The triangular s.p.a.ce below is slightly larger than in Head 1.

HEAD 3.--The queue consists of either three or four strands which extend from the top of the head to the neck. Next to the queue there are five locks in the rear row, the arrangement of which differs in the various specimens. The _main_ feature of Head 3 consists in the _absence of an open s.p.a.ce_ between the middle bunch and the lowest lock.

HEAD 4.--The queue consists of three strands which extend from the top of the head to the neck. The back row of hair consists of five locks of which the lowest is very small and runs almost perpendicularly into the queue. There is a small s.p.a.ce between the perpendicular lock and the next lowest.

HEAD 5.--Generally found on the second quality of buff paper. The queue consists of three strands, which extend from the top of the head to the neck. The main feature is the middle bunch of hair, which is oblong shaped and consists of three heavy strands, all of which slant diagonally into the queue. Immediately below this bunch is the lowest small lock, which also slants diagonally into the queue.

Of the five heads, the first is certainly the one which is most commonly found; especially on amber paper. Knife 1 is always Head 4.

Head 3 is less common, and Head 5 is most frequently found on the second quality buff paper. It is also useful to remember that Head 5 appears on Knife 11.

The subsequent table gives the knives and heads of the three cents, Rose:--

K. 22 120 x 73 P. O. Size 1 Heads 1, 2, 3, 4 White " 1 120 x 73 " 1 " 4 White " 2 139 x 83 " 3 " 3 White " 11 139 x 83 " 3 " 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 White " 11 139 x 83 " 3 " 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 Buff " 11 139 x 83 " 3 " 1, 2 Amber " 11 139 x 83 " 3 " 1, 5 Buff 2nd " 9 139 x 83 " 3 " 1, 2, 3, 4 White " 9 139 x 83 " 3 " 1, 3, 4 Buff " 9 139 x 83 " 3 " 1, 2 Amber " 12 160 x 90 " 5 " 1, 2, 3, 4 White " 12 160 x 90 " 5 " 1, 3, 4 Buff " 12 160 x 90 " 5 " 1, 2 Amber

A similar table for the three cents, Brown shows that the following heads exist:--

K. 21 225 x 98 Size 7 Heads 1, 2, 3, 4 White " " " " " " 1, 2, 3, 4 Buff " " " " " " 1, 2 Amber

The six cents, Rose and Purple comes only on heads 1 and 3.

A systematic and rational cla.s.sification of the three cents (both rose and brown) and their congener the six cents (purple and rose) is now ready. The collector of entire envelopes will proceed as follows:--

Given a certain specimen, he first ascertains the knife, second the color of the paper. He then decides which head is represented, and finally ascertains whether it is an "A" or "B" die. The specialist, or any collector who is sufficiently interested to possess the various sub-varieties, goes a step further. Having determined the head, he finds to which of the four cla.s.ses of line measurement a given specimen belongs. Thus the apparently bewildering number of varieties, through the knowledge of the heads and the "U" line measurement, are brought into perfect order, and all risk of confusion is avoided. It is evident that, henceforth, the collector of cut squares will try to obtain at least one specimen of the different heads of both die A and B, while the collector of entires may go to any length to satisfy his zeal and ambition.

The large die (Die B), measuring horizontally 25-1/2 mm. or more, is comparatively scarce and it is found most commonly on the small envelope, Knife 22.

THREE CENTS, ROSE.

K. 22 Heads 1, 2, 4 White " 11 " 4 Buff " 9 " 1, 4 White " 9 " 1 Buff " 12 " 2, 4 White " 12 " 2 Amber

THREE CENTS, BROWN.