Plating The 3¢ U.S. Imperforate Stamp of 1851 - 1857

Plate 0:

Plate 0 was likely the fourth plate manufactured, produced in late August, 1851. Its earliest known use date is September 8, 1851 and it was used until late 1851, when it was discarded, probably because of some serious defect, most likely a crack. The plate never show any signs of wear, and both inner lines are recut on all positions. The recuts are generally heavier on this plate than any other plate. Approximately 4,361,800 stamps (21,809 impressions) were printed from Plate 0. Refer to Dr. Chase's book The 3¢ Stamp of the United States 1851-1857 Issue for the full story of Plate 0.

Plate 0 - Earliest Use September 8, 1851; Used for 3 Months; 21,809 impressions/4,361,800 stamps/1.20% of issued; 200 Scott 10A:

  1L 2L 3L 4L 5L 6L 7L 8L 9L 10L     1R 2R 3R 4R 5R 6R 7R 8R 9R 10R
       
11L 20L 11R 20R
21L 30L 21R 30R
31L 40L 31R 40R
41L 50L 41R 50R
51L 60L 51R 60R
61L 70L 61R 70R
71L 80L 71R 80R
81L 90L 81R 90R
91L 100L  91R 100R
  91L 92L 93L 94L 95L 96L 97L 98L 99L 100L     91R 92R 93R 94R 95R 96R 97R 98R 99R 100R

Chase - Plate 0:

Images are provided courtesy of Smithsonian's National Postal Museum

  1L 2L 3L 4L 5L 6L 7L 8L 9L 10L     1R 2R 3R 4R 5R 6R 7R 8R 9R 10R
       
11L 20L 11R 20R
21L 30L 21R 30R
31L 40L 31R 40R
41L 50L 41R 50R
51L 60L 51R 60R
61L 70L 61R 70R
71L 80L 71R 80R
81L 90L 81R 90R
91L 100L  91R 100R
  91L 92L 93L 94L 95L 96L 97L 98L 99L 100L     91R 92R 93R 94R 95R 96R 97R 98R 99R 100R