1887 3c Postage Due, Red Brown, Plate Proof on Card

Get this Plate Proof 1887 3¢ Postage Due Stamp

Proofs have a look all their own.  Pulled under controlled conditions, they show sharper detail and stronger color than the stamps we’re used to seeing.  When the American Bank Note Company was preparing to produce Postage Due stamps, this proof was made to ensure that everything was in order with the plates before full-scale printing began.  It was printed on card paper.  Plate proofs were produced in very small quantities (fewer than 3,000 for most early stamps).

Plate Proofs
Once the design has been approved and the plates have been created, the printer will produce plate proofs to ensure that everything is in order before full-scale printing begins. Plate proofs are impressions taken directly from the printing plate and are usually produced in sheets, similar to the final stamps. However, they are typically printed on a different type of paper—often unperforated—and may be in a different color than the issued stamps.
Plate proofs allow collectors to study the alignment and spacing of the stamps on the plate, as well as any differences between individual stamps on the same sheet. Like trial color and die proofs, plate proofs are not intended for postal use, making them a prized addition to any collection.

Postage Due Stamps
Beginning in 1879, Postage Due stamps were issued to be placed on packages to indicate insufficient postage.  Understated elegance defines the 1879 Postage Due stamp. It features an ornate numeral and simple frame executed in finely crafted engraving. Its beauty was appreciated – Australia duplicated the same design for its first Postage Due stamp in 1902.
In 1855, prepayment of postage was made mandatory. If letters didn’t have sufficient postage, postal clerks would hand write the amount due on the envelope. There was no accountability for greedy clerks who would collect more than was due and pocket the difference. The solution to the problem was Postage Due stamps. Each postmaster had to balance his books between the value of the Postage Due stamps used and the money collected.
The first issues were printed by the American Bank Note Company and were released on July 1, 1879. Unlike regular postage stamps that paid for the delivery of mail, they denoted the amount of postage due on mail that was insufficiently prepaid. This amount was paid not by the sender, but rather by the recipient of the letter. Insufficient payment may have been because the letter was heavier than the sender realized, and they had not put enough postage on it to cover the extra weight. The stamps were also used on advertised letters or unpaid ship or steamboat letters.

Designed solely for functional purposes, the stamps were plain with large numerals indicating the amount to be paid. For twenty-five years, this design remained unchanged – although the colors varied from a brown to red brown to a deep red.

This Plate Proof of the US Postage Due stamp #J17 would make an unusual addition to your Postage Due stamp collection.  Order yours today.