Reprinted from The Chronicle of the U.S. Classic Postal Issues #212, November 2006

Determining the Plate Position of the “T" Crack

The 5¢ Cent Stamp of 1847

Wade E. Saadi

The “T" Crack discovery was reported to Chronicle readers in May 1994

1

. It remains the

only plate crack to be discovered on either the five or ten cent stamp of the 1847 issue

and has earned a listing, albeit not priced, in the Scott Specialized Catalog. I then briefly

reported the plate position of the “T" Crack in May 1998

2

. This article will at last explain

how the plate position of the subject stamp was determined to be 69R.

The illustration below shows the plate layout of the left and right panes of 100 stamps.

The shaded squares are the positions eliminated from contention as being the plate

position of the “T" Crack, rationalized and explained previously

3

. Essentially, all 62

shaded positions either showed or did not show plating characteristics consistent with the

known “T" Crack examples.

Left Pane Right Pane

While nearly a dozen copies of the “T" Crack were identified in the original article, only

one was part of a multiple; a horizontal pair, the left stamp being the variety. There is

only a finite amount of information that can be garnered from a single position. Until

more multiples containing the “T" Crack were discovered, little progress could be made.