Plating (stamps)

Plating refers to the reconstruction of a pane or "sheet" of postage stamps printed from a single plate by using individual stamps and overlapping strips and blocks of stamps. For plating to be possible, there must be constant variants in details of the stamps printed from a single plate or lithographic stone so that one can identify the exact original position of each stamp. Evidence that may be used in plating includes defects or "flaws" occuring in the transfer of images, individual touch-ups by the engraver, recuttings of the plates, repairs, and accidental injuries to the plates. Early stamps from Great Britain incorporated control letters in the corners indicating the stamps's exact position on the sheet, e.g., AC is first row, third stamp. Other evidence such as color of the ink used or watermarks in the paper may be of use in reconstructing plates. [ Stanley Gibbons, "Great Britain, Specialised Stamp Catalogue," Vol. 1: Queen Victoria (8th ed. 1985), p. 33 ff. ] In the absence of such evidence, plating is not possible. Because of the highly accurate methods of modern stamp production, most modern issues cannot be plated.

Classic issues

Philatelists have made extensive efforts in plating many of the Nineteenth Century Classic postage stamp issues and have written a number of books on the plating different stamp issues. One of the greatest philatelic achievements is the plating of the Penny Black and its succeeding Penny Red Brown stamps issued beginning in 1840. Those stamps were printed in sheets of 240 stamps. The plates would wear as printing went on and were often replaced. Beginning with the 71st plate in 1858, the plate number was inconspicuously engraved on the stamps themselves. All the stamps bore control letters which indicated the exact position on the sheet, so that reconstructing the plates beginning with plate 71 is simply a matter of finding the necessary stamps. The first 70 plates, however, bore no numbers to indicate the specific plate used to print them, and their plating presented vastly greater problems. Through painstaking study of the stamps, philatelists were able to reconstruct most or all of the first 70 plates. Later philatelists were assisted when reference copies of the original panes kept by the British Government were made available for inspection. The other early engraved stamp issues of Great Britain have similarly been plated. [ Stanley Gibbons, "Great Britain, Specialized Stamp Catalogue," Vol. 1: Queen Victoria (8th ed. 1985), p. 33 ff. ] See further Penny black printing plates.

In contrast, plates of other classic stamps were relatively easy to reconstruct. One of the easiest was the stamps of Corrientes, which were individually crudely engraved so that the differences between the stamps are obvious to a non-expert. [ See Louis Stich, "Corrientes: the Issues from 1856-80", The Collectors Club, New York, 1957.] Early stamps of Mauritius have been used to reconstruct a series of original panes printed from plates displaying increasing states of wear, from early (stamps bold and clear) to late (stamps very light and weak) [ David Feldman SA, "Mauritius: Classic Postage Stamps and Postal History," Switzerland (1993), illustrated auction catalog with "Supplement" providing detailed information on plating positions of the "Post Paid" and "Lapirot" issues in their different states. ]

Plating Studies

Great Britain

* Roland Brown and H.W.Fisher, "The Plating of the Penny 1840-1864," 4 vols, The Great Britain Philatelic Society, London (1979-1984).
* Stanley Gibbons, "Great Britain, Specialised Stamp Catalogue, Volume 1: Queen Victoria," London (8th ed. 1985).

United States

* Stanley B. Ashbrook, "The United States One Cent Stamp of 1851-1857".
* Carroll L. Chase, "The 3¢ Stamp of the United States, 1851-1857".
* Mortimer L. Neinken, "U.S. One Cent Stamp of 1851-61".
* Elliott Perry, "Plating the 10c, 1847, Collectors Club, New York [1924-1926] .

Elsewhere

* John Barefoot, "Bhopal: Notes on Plating the "Primitives", Derbyshire, England (1978).
* Louis Basel, "Computerized Plating of the Large Hermes Heads of Greece," Stamford, Connecticut (c. 1984).
* Bruce Cartwright, "Hawaiian Islands postage stamps. Plating the engraved "five cts." blue of the issue of 1853," Honolulu, Hawaii (1911).
* Philip Cockrill, "Liberia. Plating of the First Issues, 1860-1869," Newbury, Berkshire, England [1979] .
* G. Dumont, "France : Plating of the 20 centimes, Blue Issue 1863." Billig's Specialized Catalogue, Vol. 5, Jamaica, N.Y. (1950).
* Arthur H. Groten, "Plating Canada's 2c stamp of 1864," British North America Philatelic Society, Toronto [197-?] .
* D. N. Jatia, "India's Bi-Coloured Four Annas 1854, A Specialised Study of Third Printing," Philatelic Congress of India, Calcutta, n.d.
* Emanuel J. Lee, "The Postage Stamps of Uruguay; with special reference to the "plating" of most of the lithographed issues," Postilion Publications, New York [1994?] .

ee also

* [http://www.kernunnos.com/Philately/GBQVLE.html Line Engraved Victoria stamps]
* [http://www.maltesex.com/plating/ Penny Black Plating Project]
* [http://www.1847usa.com/PlateLayout.htm Plate Layouts for U.S. Postage Stamps]
* [http://www.slingshotvenus.com/FranklinArchive/frnkln_archv_Main.html Plating the One Cent Franklin Stamp]
* [http://www.uspcs.org/uspcs3c51.html The U.S. 3¢ Stamp: 1851-57]
* [http://home.comcast.net/~3cent1851/plating.htm 1851 - 1857 3-Cent Stamp Plating]
* [http://www.oneps.org/plating/20Pa/20PaPlate.htm Plating Study of the Turkish 20 Paras, 1863]

Notes