1857-61 12c Washington, black

# 36 - 1857-61 12c Washington, black

$185.00 - $1,100.00
Image Condition Price Qty
928532
Used Magenta Cancel small flaws ⓘ Ships in 1-3 business days. Ships in 1-3 business days.
$ 215.00
$ 215.00
0
327441
Mint Stamp(s) ⓘ Ships in 1-3 business days. Ships in 1-3 business days.
$ 1,100.00
$ 1,100.00
1
327446
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$ 350.00
$ 350.00
2
No Image
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$ 695.00
$ 695.00
3
327439
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$ 185.00
$ 185.00
4
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U.S. #36

1857 Washington, Plate 1

  • Part of the first perforated series of US stamps
  • Paid the domestic rate for heavier letters and packages

Stamp Category:  Definitive
Series:  1857-61 Issue
Value:  12c
Earliest Documented Use:  July 30, 1857
Printed by:  Toppan, Carpenter & Co.
Quantity printed:   3,000,000 (estimate) 
Format:  Printed in sheets of 200 stamps, divided into vertical panes of 100 each
Printing Method:  Engraving
Perforations:  15½
Color:  Black

Why the stamp was issued:  The Act of April, 1855 increased the rate for any domestic letter weighing up to one-half ounce and sent over 3000 miles from six to ten cents.  The rate increase helped pay for the cost of building railroads and transporting the mail such a great distance across the continent.  Many of the stamps were used to frank letters going and from to California.   The 12c issue was meant to pay postage on heavier letters and packages.  The 12c plus a 3c stamp could pay the postage to France. 


About the printing:  The design is engraved on a die – a small, flat piece of steel.  The design is copied to a transfer roll – a blank roll of steel.  Several impressions or “reliefs” are made on the roll.  The reliefs are transferred to the plate – a large, flat piece of steel from which the stamps are printed.  

 

About the design:  The image of George Washington on #36 is based on a painting by Gilbert Stuart, who created many portraits of the first president. 


Special Design Details:  US #36 was printed from Plate 1.  The outer frame lines are complete.

 

The new series’ designs were reproduced from the imperforate plates of 1851.  Because the same plates were used, the perforated stamp types don’t differ much from the corresponding imperforate stamps.  The entire series (U.S. #18-39) is noted for having narrow margins.  This is because the perforations took up room normally given to the designs.

About the 1857-61 Series:  In July, 1851 – 1c, 3c, and 12c stamps were issued.  The new stamps met reduced postal rates passed by act of Congress on March 3 of the same year.  Further changes in postage rates appeared in the Act of March 3, 1855, leading to 10c (1855) and 5c (1856) denominations being added to the series.  Stamps of the same designs as the 1851-57 Imperforate Series (plus new denominations of 24c, 30c, and 90c) were issued as part of the Series of 1857-61, the first perforated U.S. stamps.  



History the stamp represents:  #36 was part of the first series of perforated U.S. postage stamps.  When the world’s first postage stamps were issued, no provision was made for separating the stamps from one another.  Post office clerks and stamp users merely cut these “imperforates” apart with scissors or tore them along the edge of a metal rule.  A device was needed which would separate the stamps more easily and accurately. 

In 1847, Irishman Henry Archer patented a machine that punched holes horizontally and vertically between rows of stamps.  Now stamps could be separated without cutting.  Perforations also enabled stamps to adhere better to envelopes.  Archer sold his invention to the British Treasury in 1853.  That same year, Great Britain produced its first perforated stamps.  It wasn’t long before the U.S. decided to make use of the new method of producing stamps with perforations, resulting in the Series of 1857-61.

 

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U.S. #36

1857 Washington, Plate 1

  • Part of the first perforated series of US stamps
  • Paid the domestic rate for heavier letters and packages

Stamp Category:  Definitive
Series:  1857-61 Issue
Value:  12c
Earliest Documented Use:  July 30, 1857
Printed by:  Toppan, Carpenter & Co.
Quantity printed:   3,000,000 (estimate) 
Format:  Printed in sheets of 200 stamps, divided into vertical panes of 100 each
Printing Method:  Engraving
Perforations:  15½
Color:  Black

Why the stamp was issued:  The Act of April, 1855 increased the rate for any domestic letter weighing up to one-half ounce and sent over 3000 miles from six to ten cents.  The rate increase helped pay for the cost of building railroads and transporting the mail such a great distance across the continent.  Many of the stamps were used to frank letters going and from to California.   The 12c issue was meant to pay postage on heavier letters and packages.  The 12c plus a 3c stamp could pay the postage to France. 


About the printing:  The design is engraved on a die – a small, flat piece of steel.  The design is copied to a transfer roll – a blank roll of steel.  Several impressions or “reliefs” are made on the roll.  The reliefs are transferred to the plate – a large, flat piece of steel from which the stamps are printed.  

 

About the design:  The image of George Washington on #36 is based on a painting by Gilbert Stuart, who created many portraits of the first president. 


Special Design Details:  US #36 was printed from Plate 1.  The outer frame lines are complete.

 

The new series’ designs were reproduced from the imperforate plates of 1851.  Because the same plates were used, the perforated stamp types don’t differ much from the corresponding imperforate stamps.  The entire series (U.S. #18-39) is noted for having narrow margins.  This is because the perforations took up room normally given to the designs.

About the 1857-61 Series:  In July, 1851 – 1c, 3c, and 12c stamps were issued.  The new stamps met reduced postal rates passed by act of Congress on March 3 of the same year.  Further changes in postage rates appeared in the Act of March 3, 1855, leading to 10c (1855) and 5c (1856) denominations being added to the series.  Stamps of the same designs as the 1851-57 Imperforate Series (plus new denominations of 24c, 30c, and 90c) were issued as part of the Series of 1857-61, the first perforated U.S. stamps.  



History the stamp represents:  #36 was part of the first series of perforated U.S. postage stamps.  When the world’s first postage stamps were issued, no provision was made for separating the stamps from one another.  Post office clerks and stamp users merely cut these “imperforates” apart with scissors or tore them along the edge of a metal rule.  A device was needed which would separate the stamps more easily and accurately. 

In 1847, Irishman Henry Archer patented a machine that punched holes horizontally and vertically between rows of stamps.  Now stamps could be separated without cutting.  Perforations also enabled stamps to adhere better to envelopes.  Archer sold his invention to the British Treasury in 1853.  That same year, Great Britain produced its first perforated stamps.  It wasn’t long before the U.S. decided to make use of the new method of producing stamps with perforations, resulting in the Series of 1857-61.