History of the Postage Stamps of the United States of AmericaTiffany, John K. (John Kerr)
History
History of the Postage Stamps of the United States of America
Tiffany, John K. (John Kerr)
Postage stamps -- United States
THREE CENTS. Bust of Washington, first President of the United States,
in profile to left, on an oval disk, with hatched ground, bordered by a
fine colorless line between two fine colored lines, surrounded by a
frame composed of colorless lines, forming diamonds on a solid ground,
the alternate diamonds filled in with diagonal colorless lines, leaving
a colored chain conspicuous, with rosettes in the four angles. The space
between the oval and frame filled with horizontal lines, and the corners
outside the rosettes filled with ornamented triangles. Above and below
all these are solid colored labels, with a small piece containing a
diamond cut off at each end by a vertical colorless line, inscribed in
colorless Roman capitals, above "_U. S. Postage_," below "_Three
Cents_." The whole is surrounded, at a little distance, by a colored
line forming a rectangle.
Plate impression 20 by 25 mm., color, white paper.
3 cents, in shades of brick and rose red.
TWELVE CENTS. Bust of Washington, after Stewart, facing three quarters
to the left, on an oval disk 13½ by 17 mm., with hatched ground,
bordered by a colorless line between two colored lines. This colorless
line is crossed by horizontal lines. About this is a frame like that of
the 3 cents, with rosettes at the angles, but showing six and two half
links in the chain on each side, instead of five and two half links as
in the three cents. The outside corners are filled by small foliations.
The space between the oval and frame is filled by horizontal lines.
Inscription above "_U. S. Postage_," below "_Twelve Cents_" in colorless
capitals, shaded outside on the back ground and following the curve of
the oval. The whole is surrounded by a fine colored line.
Plate impression, 19 by 25 mm., color, white paper.
12 cents, black.
As it was considered desirable to keep the amounts collected and paid
for delivery by carriers (under section 10 of the act) separate, a
special stamp for the payment of such postage was soon added:
ISSUE OF SEPTEMBER 29TH, 1851.
ONE CENT. Bust of Benjamin Franklin, in profile, to the left, on an oval
disk, 15 by 17½ mm. with hatched ground, bordered by a colorless line
between two fine colored lines. Frame, labels, etc., like the three
cents, but with a colorless star between curved colorless lines at the
end instead of the diamonds. The inscription is in colorless Roman
capitals, on the upper label "_Carrier's_," and "_Stamp_" in the lower
label.
Plate impression, 19½ by 24 mm., color, rose paper.
No value indicated, indigo blue.
Specimens exist in brick red, some of which show the crack in the die.
These must be proofs, although a letter purporting to be from W. M.
Ireland, Third Assistant Postmaster General, dated August 10th, 1869,
and published in the August number of the American Journal of Philately,
after describing this stamp says:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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