#390 1910 1¢ Coil

Basic Information

Color: Green
Subject: Benjamin Franklin
Watermark: SINGLE-lined USPS
Printing method: Flat plate
Perforations: 8½ horizontally
Scott #: 390
Quantity issued: 25,772,000
Issued: October 5th, 1911

Value for pairs

An unused pair with perfect gum: $9-$11
An unused pair with gum and a hinge mark: $6-$9
A used pair: $15-$25

Value for singles

An unused stamp with perfect gum: $6-$9
An unused stamp with gum and a hinge mark: $2-$3.50
A used stamp: $3-$6

About #390

A #390 line pair with a
Panama-Pacific Expo. cancel

As coils had now passed through the experimental stage and business houses were finding the stamp affixing machines a great labor saving device, demands for coils increased rapidly. The increased use of coil stamps made it essential that some method be devised to make unnecessary the pasting together of single strips of twenty stamps to form a coil.

After various experiments a machine was perfected whereby it was possible to feed into the machines a series of partly perforated one-half sheets (200 subjects) which had been pasted together, and make ten coils at one time. With_this machine, two girls could do the work formerly done by seventeen. The only difficulty however, was due to the frequent breaks caused by perforations between the stamps as the coils were being cut and wound. It was found that this was due to the lack of uncut space between the stamps caused by 12 gauge perforation. To overcome this, the perforations for coils were reduced to 8½, which greatly increased the amount of uncut space between the stamps and made the coils less likely to tear in the machines.

Usage

Earliest documented date of use, October 5th, 1911

The 1¢ Benjamin Franklin stamp was used specifically for:
Postcards: The standard rate for sending a postcard anywhere in the United States. It was the primary use for this stamp.
Third-Class Mail & Printed Matter: Bulk circulars, newspapers, and printed items (priced at 1¢ for every 2 ounces).
Make-up Rate: Combined with other denominations to meet higher or odd postage rates.

Paste-up Pairs

A paste up pair

In making this coil the ordinary 400 subject sheets were perforated in the horizontal spaces and then cut into 200 subject sheets along the vertical guide lines. These part perforated sheets were pasted together side by side and fed into a coiling machine which cut the sheets into strips and reeled them on cardboard cylinders in units of 500 and 1,000 stamps. The strips of 20 had a "paste up" at each end where joined and a section of the vertical guide line showed between each tenth and eleventh stamp. One row of each ten had a plate number covered by the "paste up."

The Plates

The plate numbers on the sides having been cut off and those on the top and bottom being covered by the paste up. As a consequence plate numbers are rarely found on the vertical coils perforated horizontally.

#390 was issued with the following plate #'s

Number only
5566-67, 5572- 73, 5656-59, 5666, 5677-79, 5699, 5705
5709, 5714-16

Identifying the Watermark on #390

The SINGLE lined USPS watermark of #390

A DOUBLE lined USPS watermark

Between 1895 and 1916 the U.S. government used two different watermarks, double line and single line with the letters "USPS".

By placing the watermark face down on a dark surface or holding it up to bright light you might be able to see the watermark. If you cannot see the watermark it might be a good idea to invest in watermark fluid and a watermark tray. Ronsons lighter fluid works just as well as watermark fluid. Both fluids evaporate quickly.

Pour a little fluid in the tray, lay the stamp face down. In a few seconds the stamp will absorb the fluid and reveal the watermark to you.

As you will see from the illustrations the letters can span several stamps, so on the watermark, for instance, you can see only part of the letter S in one corner and only part the letter P in the other corner.

The purpose of the change in the watermark was to strengthen the paper and to give it a more uniform thickness. The old double line watermark covered too much space and made the lettered area quite a bit thinner than the rest of the paper, which caused variation in the shrinkage of the paper. The new watermark was also smaller, occurring 400 letters to a full sheet instead of 360.

Paste-up Pairs

A paste up pair

The makers of private coils pasted fifteen of these sheets together, end to end or side to side. These were then perforated, cut into strips and rolled into coils of 3,000. A paste up, occurred every twenty stamps, each strip being divided by the guide line running in the same direction as the perforations. The primary reason for issuing imperforate stamps in sheets being for the use of makers of private perforations, Above is shown an example of where two stamps have been pasted together.

The Inspiration for the Design

Benjamin Franklin bust by Jean-Antoine Houdon

The design of the orginal 1869 1¢ stamp with this vignette (#112) was inspired by a sculpture of Benjamin Franklin by Jean-Antoine Houdon, which is currently located in the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia.

It has been much debated whether Franklin actually sat for Houdon or if the sculptor captured his vividly accurate image from mere passing acquaintance. He would have had ample opportunity to observe the American minister at the Masonic lodge of the Nine Sisters to which they, as well as many other artists and patrons in the expatriate community (e.g., Count Stroganov; see Voltaire and Diderot), belonged. This cleanly truncated version, in modern dress, was clearly preferred by contemporary American statesmen and anticipates George Washington's insistence that Houdon's statue of him.