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

Plate 2L:

The recuts and reentries which resulted in Plate 2L were made about January 1, 1852. It was used continuously until some time after February 24, 1857, when perforated stamps first appeared. Because some of the typical colors used during 1856 are not seen in this plate, it is likely that this plate was out of use for some of 1856. Because the 1857 impressions are beautifully clear, which was not the case with those printed in 1855, it is probable that the plate was carefully cleaned in 1856. This appearance may have been partly due to better ink in 1857 as well. Approximately 85,246,200 stamps (426,231 impressions) were printed from Plate 2L. Refer to Dr. Chase's book The 3¢ Stamp of the United States 1851-1857 Issue for the full story of Plate 2L.

Plate 2L - Earliest Use January 12, 1852; Used for 62 Months; 426,231 impressions/85,246,200 stamps/23.53% of issued; 200 Scott 11A:

  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 2L:

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