The Die Varieties of the Nesbitt Series of United States Envelopes Part 3

Variety 2, Head XI.--A small but heavy eyebrow near the corner of the eye. The side-lock commences close to the eye-brow and is rather short and shaped like a comma. Near the end of the side-lock begins the lowest front-lock, which is very short, heavy, and extends some distance beyond the ear-lobe. Note that the end of the side-lock reaches to the middle of the ear-lobe. The queue is continued from the second front-lock. There are five locks in the front row and two heavy upper locks in the back row:

[HW: there is usually a flaw in the outer colored line opposite the lower left straight line near "C."]

HEAD XII.

[Ill.u.s.tration: XII.]

Variety 3, Head XII:--A long, heavy-side-lock starts near a heavy eyebrow, which extends far beyond the corner of the eye. At its end the side-lock bends sharply to the left and is quite a distance from the ear-lobe. Together with the side-lock starts the lowest front-lock. It slants across the ear-lobe, broadens towards its middle and is pointed at the end. The side-lock, front-lock and ear-lobe somewhat resemble the figure 1. The queue is continued from the lowest lock immediately behind the second front-lock. There are five locks in the front row and three heavy locks in the back row.

THREE CENTS, RED. DIE 3.

"THREE" in square label with a diagonal line across each corner _called "K Ends_."

8-1/2 loops on left; 9 loops on right.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

This die appeared in July, 1853, and exists on note and letter size envelopes. The former is extremely rare. Mr. Harrison, who has carefully studied this die, found two heads of Was.h.i.+ngton (XIII and XIV). He states, however, that: "in the heads in relief there is only a slight difference in the arrangement of the hair, which is of no practical use, as in most specimens of this series the head is so lightly impressed that it is impossible to detect any differences."

Realizing how difficult it is to get a fine specimen of this die, the writer tried his best to obtain a clear impression, and the drawing shows that the search has not been in vain.

HEAD XIII.

Two small side-locks. (For further description see Head XIV).

[Ill.u.s.tration]

Variety 1.:--"C" of "Cents" low.

HEAD XIV.

[Ill.u.s.tration: XIV.]

One short side-lock: A heavy eyebrow. A fine, short side-lock starts quite a distance from the latter and ends far from the ear-lobe.

Together with the side-lock commences the short, lowest front-lock.

Immediately above the latter commences the third front-lock, which is bifurcated to the middle. This is the main feature of the die. It is by far the heaviest strand and continues, uninterruptedly, into the queue.

All other front or rear locks are short. Between the last-mentioned long front-lock and the short, lowest one lies a small rear lock, pointed at its start and broad at its end. Including the lowest front-lock, there are five locks in front and but three in the rear row, i.e., two above the long, bifurcated front-lock and a small one immediately below the latter.

Variety 2:--"C" of "CENTS" high in the frame.

THREE CENTS, RED. DIE 4.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

Wide label, measuring 20 mm. horizontally, with square ends; lower label short (17 mm.) but also with straight ends. 7 loops on each side.

Issued July, 1853.

Luckily the engraver has seen fit to use but one head for this issue and it is our old favorite, HEAD I, and needs no further description.

There is but one variety, and none of the envelopes have the Nesbitt seal.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

Variety 1:--Letters of "THREE" very widely s.p.a.ced, especially the last two letters. "T" nearer to left label than "E" to the right. "ENT" of "CENTS" nearer to each other than "C" to "E" and "T" to "S".

The die has been used for note and letter size, i.e., Knives 1 and 2, on white, and for the latter on both white and buff paper.

THREE CENTS, RED. DIE 5.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

The common die of the first series.

Short labels (measuring 15 mm. horizontally) with curved ends.

9 loops on the left; 8-1/2 loops on the right.

This die appeared in March, 1854, and remained in existence until October, 1860. On account of its six years of constant use, it was not strange that the die should need repairing and retouching.

Nevertheless, while admitting the necessity of repairs, this does not account in any way for the fact that we have thirty distinctly different dies in this series, many of which cannot be explained by the above theory. Of course, the various curves of the labels may be accounted for by repeated retouching, but no one who compares many of these dies would attempt to give the same reason for the totally different lettering and the great variety in the s.p.a.cing. As a matter of fact, most of the so-called varieties are far more distinct dies than some of the well-known Reays and Plimptons of equal denominations.

In spite of the great number of varieties of this issue, the engraver has seen fit to use but one head of Was.h.i.+ngton, which is totally different from any of those preceding.

HEAD XV.

[Ill.u.s.tration: XV.]

Two fine, very short side-locks, reaching to the middle of the ear-lobe, which is rather large. There are seven very thin locks of hair, almost hair lines, in the upper part of the head, extending to the back of the head, each with a curve in the centre. Below these there is a short, thick bunch, or lock, bent upwards into the s.p.a.ce left by the curve of the seventh thin lock. There is one short, thick front-lock and three in the back row, side by side, nearly at right angles to the bunch of hair which is bent upwards. The lowest front-lock slants a considerable distance across the ear, while the lock immediately above it is much longer and reaches into the queue.

The latter is very thin and shows no subdivisions.

Doubtless the thirty varieties of this die would have been highly prized by collectors and would have been well known many years ago if American philatelists had taken the trouble to study them with a view to systematic cla.s.sification. Certainly, without a system the collector's task is troublesome, but, with a proper cla.s.sification, the difficulty vanishes and what has. .h.i.therto been considered an annoyance becomes a pleasurable pursuit. This issue greatly favors the collector of cut square specimens, for a good many dies can easily be found. On the contrary, the collector of entires, especially the advanced collector who desires mint copies, will find it difficult to get unused specimens of many dies.

The paper used is white and buff, and, as mentioned before, both the quality and color differ widely. For instance: "Buff" covers shades which would be called at the present time light chocolate, brown, oriental buff, light yellow, etc. A great many envelopes are of soft paper, nearly unsurfaced, while there are numerous others having a hard, brittle texture, highly surfaced or glazed. Often six shades may be obtained, and they are certainly worthy of being collected with care.

It has already been stated that the thirty varieties can be cla.s.sified, and that such cla.s.sification is a great help to the philatelist.

Fortunately, the first ten dies are quickly recognized by the long, horizontal cross stroke of "T" of "THREE," and "T" of "CENTS," while the remaining twenty dies have a short top stroke, and this differentiation, in the writer's humble opinion, should have been introduced long ago in the general catalogues.

Before commencing the study of the first ten varieties, it is only proper to state that even Mr. Harrison has put himself on record that: "the ten earlier varieties are by no means easy to separate." Indeed, they are decidedly more troublesome and require far closer work than any of the other Nesbitt die varieties. The student is sure to find many specimens in which the upper curves are entirely worn away, and in judging the s.p.a.cing of the letters errors are likely to occur, due to heavy impressions, which are not infrequent.

Being well aware of these annoyances, the writer has tried, to the best of his ability, to make the description of these ten varieties as lucid as possible, and as they now stand they represent the labor of many hours. Expressions like "far", "near" or "close" are, of course, subject to individual interpretation, but by comparing the ill.u.s.trations accompanying the text, what is meant by "close", etc., will be easily understood. Wherever greater accuracy seemed needful, the distance between two letters, either at the top or the base has been added. If a letter is stated to be below the level of another, the student, as a rule, should have no difficulty in recognizing this fact.

This is true of varieties 4 and 5, but a certain amount of training of the eye is required to recognize quickly the lower position of "T" and "E" of "THREE" in varieties 1, 2 and 10.