Each Type Ib position was originally entered on the plate as a full Type I design. However, the extreme bottom portions were later burnished off (erased) by the engravers to fit the plate.

Type Ib stamps originated from only six specific positions on the top row of the Right Pane of Plate 1 Early (1E)

Interesting points

1) Type Ib exists only as an imperforate stamp; it is the only major 1¢ type that was never officially produced with perforations.
2) Positions 6R1E and 8R1E are the most highly prized because they have the least amount of bottom ornament erasure.
3) It is estimated that only about 30,000 Type Ib stamps were ever printed, making them significantly rarer than the more common Type II or Type V varieties.
4) The imperforate stamps were replaced with the perforated stamps on August 1st 1857.
5) A certificate is a must, never buy without one.

How to read plate positions?

The first indicator is a number indicates its position on the plate, so 3RIE would have come from the third stamp on the plate. The number can range from 1 to 100, there being 100 stamps on each plate.

The second indicator is either the letter R or L, R indicates the stamp came from the right pane, L for the left pane. The stamp was printed in sheets of 200, each sheet was further divided into two panes of 100. Hence 3RIE would have come from the right pane as the second indicator in 3R1E is the letter R.

The third indicator can be from numbers I (1) to XII (12). This indicator is always shown in roman numerals. There were twelve plates, there are no stamps from plate VI (6) as it was destroyed before printing began (no doubt it was flawed). For example stamp 4RIL would have come from plate one (1).

The last or fourth indicator is either the letter E or L. The letter 'E' indicate an early state of the plate, the letter 'L' indicates the late state of the plate. This indicator only applies to PLATE I, as it is the only one that has an early and late plate. The early plate is the original plate. After 11 months the plate became worn and 199 of the 200 positions were recut. 113 positions on the plate had both top and bottom lines recut, 40 positions had only the top line recut, 8 positions had only the bottom line recut, 11 positions had a double recut at the bottom and 4 positions had a double recut at the top.

How many plates were there?

There were twelve plates of the 1¢ Franklin made, plate six was never used, probably due to it being damaged in it's creation. Most of the plates were used for both the imperforate and perforated design. Some only produced one type or the other. For instance, plate 12 produced only perforated stamps and the early state of Plate 1 produced only imperforate stamps whilst plate I late (reconstruction) produced both imperforate and perforated stamps. Plate 4 was the last of the imperforate plates to be used.