The 5¢ and 10¢ stamps represent to most collectors the beginning of U.S. philately. (Postmasters' Provisionals and Locals may have preceded this Issue, but their uses were generally restricted to a specific geographical region). Traditionally, the 1847 stamps occupied the first two spaces in albums, and to young collectors these spaces were almost certainly empty, due to their high catalog value. Such circumstances have created a certain mystique about the 1847 stamps and they hold a special place in the minds of many collectors of U.S. stamps, as they are the premiere issue and represent a genesis of sorts.

On March 3, 1847, the future of the U.S. postage stamp was cast. Congress voted and passed an Act to establish Post Roads as well as for other purpose's. Effective July 1, 1847, the placement of an adhesive stamp on letter could prepay its necessary postage. With the authority vested in him by the statute to prepare postage stamps, Postmaster General Cave Johnson retained Rawdon, Wright, Hatch and Edson (RWH&E), a New York City banknote engraver and printer for the task. His choice was likely premised on the fact that RWH&E was the prominent firm of their time and they had engraved and printed the New York Postmasters' Provisional two years prior.

Of large part, the process by which the stamps of 1847 and nearly all early U.S. stamps for that matter, were engraved and printed was invented by Jacob Perkins, the founder of the famous British printing firm of Perkins, Bacon and Co. First, a die was made by engraving in reverse, a single image of the design. This engraving was etched into soft steel and then hardened. An arc shaped band of soft steel called a transfer roll, was rocked repeatedly over the die, transferring the impression from the hardened steel die into the soft steel of the transfer roll. The image on the transfer roll was not in reverse. Next, a plate large enough to accommodate two side-by-side panes of 100 entries each (to be laid down with 10x10 entries), was held fast to a table. Although not conclusive, evidence indicates the transfer roll was placed above the left side of the plate and the impressions were rocked in one position at a time, starting at the top of the column and working downward, until all 200 transfers were made. These images were in reverse and the plate produced the positive image postage stamps.

The 5¢ stamp exists in a vast number of shades. There are 25+ major shade classifications, and almost 100 more minor varieties listed under those, making these shades a truly fascinating part of 1847 collecting. Some shades are very hard to find while others are quite common.

The plate was put to press five times and the stamps from each printing are distinguishable by the characteristics of their impressions. Brown inks contained oxides of various metals, which could wear down the fine lines of the engraved plate through the several thousand impressions and repeated, inconsistent wiping of the plate after each impression. After the third printing, the plate's condition was useless. It is generally accepted that the plate was acid etched before the fourth printing was printed to enhance the impression and to clean the dirty plate. The intention was to deepen the lines of the plate, thereby allowing them to hold more ink. However, the lines of the engraved plate were widened twice as much as they were deepened, since the acid ate away at the left and right sides simultaneously, and it ate away at the bottom. While this helped to strengthen medium to deep lines, it gave them a soft or fuzzy appearance. Many of the extremely fine lines completely disappeared from the stamps of the fourth and fifth printing. Additionally, it is believed that a few positions on the plate were re-entered after the fourth and/or fifth printing.

Plate varieties include six so-called double transfers, a "T" Crack, the dot in "S" and a few others. Cancellations are usually a red grid, town or manuscript; hence any other well-defined strikes are sought after.

Unlike the printings of the 5¢ 1847 stamp, the four printings of the 10¢ are not as academically important since there is no contention as to whether the plate was re-worked, had re-entries made or was cleaned. These actions, presumed to have been performed on the 5¢ plate, have changed the characteristics of the 5¢ stamps appearance. This did not occur on the 10¢ plate. The 10¢ deliveries are almost completely indistinguishable from one another. The range between the first delivery and the fourth delivery is very narrow and barely perceptible. The first and foremost reason is the composition of the ink. They were likely carbon-based pigments, similar to carbon black. Unlike the pigments of the 5¢ stamp, the 10¢ inks were certainly not abrasive. The second reason for lack of plate wear is that only 1,050,000 stamps were made from the 10¢ plate. That is less than 25% of the 4,4000,000 stamps for the 5¢ stamp. As a matter of fact, if the 5¢ plate had made only 1,050,000 stamps, production would have stopped during the second delivery. Thus, there would be only excellent impressions known from the 5¢ stamp as well.

Elliott Perry was able to plate all 200 positions of the 10¢ stamp. Because of the non-abrasive nature of the black ink and its sharp contrast on the paper, the nuances of each impression rendered them distinguishable. There are four double transfers and many well-known varieties from this plate.

The 1847 issue was demonetized on July 1, 1851, and replaced by new stamps and new postal rates. The contract to print the new issue was not awarded to Rawdon, Wright, Hatch & Edson, who retained ownership of the 1847 printing plates and dies. It is believed this absence of government control over the printing media caused the 1847 issue to be demonetized. From this point onward, all printing contracts provided for government possession of the all plates and dies.

N.B. It is often citied via Luff and Brookman that, in New York in December 1851, "printing plates of 100" were destroyed by the government. While a destruction may have occurred, it would have had to been of "plates of 200", as that was how the two plates had been laid down. W.E.S.

For a limited time the Smithsonian Institute's National Postal Museum is offering to sell color photographs of the only known complete panes of the 1847 Proof stamps. For more information and photograph samples, click HERE

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