Scott #148 US stamps

#148 -1870 without grill 6¢

See below for details

Basic Info

6¢ - Carmine, dark carmine, brown carmine or rose

Type of Paper: Hard white wove paper, thin to medium thick
Subject: Abraham Lincoln
Number issued: 28,000,000
Perforations: 12
Scott #: 148
Printer: National Bank Note Company
Date of Issue: March 13, 1870
Earliest Documented Use: March 28, 1870

Value

Used
$4 - $9
No postmark with gum (MH)
$100 - $125
Full perfect gum, no postmark
no trace of stamp hinge mark (MNH)
$350- $650

Postal rates 1870-1883

3rd Class domestic mail: 1¢
Local drop rate: 1¢
Domestic drop letters: 2¢
Local first class: 2¢
Up to 3000 miles, per ½ oz.: 3¢
Germany and UK, per ½ oz: 6¢
Belgium, per ½ oz: 8¢
Prussian (closed mail) from Oct 1, 1871: 7¢
Over 3000 miles, per ½ oz.: 10¢
Registration fee from July 1, 1875: 10¢
Denmark (NGU): 13¢
Registration fee before July 1, 1875: 15¢
South Africa and distant foreign destinations: 15¢
Argentina, Seychelles, and other distant foreign destinations: 24¢
India, Peru and other distant foreign destinations: 30¢
Russia and other distant foreign destinations: 30¢

Mainly used for double the domestic first class mail rate, i.e. 1oz letters. Frequently used for mail to Germany and the United Kingdom as 6¢ was the standard rate for those countries.

Plate #'s

#148 was issued with the following plate #'s

Imprint and plate number
26, 27

Double Impression

Double Impression
148b

Does the stamp has a grill on the reverse?

If your stamp has the grill shown above, or a portion of the grill, then your stamp is not a #148, it is #137

In the unlikely event you have this strongly pronounced grill on the back you have a copy of #159

The design inspiration

Bust of Abraham Lincoln
by Leonard Volk

#148 Color

#148 has shades of carmine and #159 shades of pink
Both are on hard paper

The paper

#148 is printed on hard white wove paper, thin to medium thick.

Hard paper was used by the National Bank Note Company and the Continental Bank Note Company. Soft paper was used by the American Bank Note Company,

The hard paper of the Bank Note issues is fairly white, perhaps it might better be called grayish white or sometimes a somewhat bluish white, while the soft paper seems slightly yellowish when compared with the hard paper.

Soft paper has a looser weave and more porous paper than hard paper, so it feels softer, displays a mesh or weave when viewed by holding the stamp between your eyes and light so that you are looking “through” the stamp.

Some people can also ID hard paper be “flicking” the edges and thereby “feeling” the stiffness of the paper versus the feel of soft paper if flicked in the same way. There's more of a snap to the hard paper.

On high magnification the perforation tips on soft paper will have more strands of paper sticking out than hard paper.

Soft paper is fairly dead looking under a long wave UV light ( (briefly and from a reasonable distance in a darkened room) while hard paper reflects more light. If reference copies of stamp designs known only on hard paper or soft paper are viewed under UV light, the difference in paper brightness should be apparent.

For a reference stamp obtain the inexpensive 1861 3¢ (#65), it is only available in hard paper.

A simple test is to hold a stamp to a lamp, you will see the hard paper is more translucent.

The Secret Mark

Look for strengthening of the first four lines on the lower tail of the left ribbon This was a 'secret mark' that identifies #159 if it is hard paper and #186 if it is soft paper.

NYC Foreign Mail

Foreign mail from NY, NY received a a special foreign mail cancel. Always circular and always with geometric designs. As the 6¢ was the rate for most foreign mail you would most likely see these cancel here. Some of the cancels are rare and have value to them. To find out more search here or here