1½¢ Harding plate block with 7 gum-breaker configuration.

Dear Sir,

In the April, 2007 Specialist, member Rodney Juell reported the discovery of a third copy of U.S. Scott #633, the Fourth Bureau 1½¢ Harding rotary compound perf., with a 7 gum-breaker configuration.  I am writing to report the discovery of a fourth single and also a plate block, #18722, which both show the 7-breaker configuration.  Per the Plate Number Checklist, plate #18722 was at press 6 times between November 2, 1927 and May 16, 1928.  The existence of a 7-breaker configuration on this plate would seem to suggest that creation of this variety coincides with the BEP breaker experimentation in early 1928, which resulted in the 8-breaker variety on the 2¢ value, Scott #634.  This writer welcomes further comment and reports of additional discoveries.

Sincerely,
James Robinson

The Author Responds

Dear Sir,

My thanks to Mr. Robinson for sharing his discovery with the rest of us.  His taking the time to report this discovery and thus expand our collective knowledge is a big part of what our Society and The Specialist are all about!  Mr. Robinson’s discover of this plate block confirms my suspicion that the seven-breaker configuration was used circa early 1928.  I appreciate now knowing for certain.  I challenge our members to continue to watch for unreported breaker configurations.  To the best of my knowledge the table of known ridge and breaker combinations that appears on p. 256 of the June, 2003 issue of The Specialist is still accurate.

Sincerely,
Rodney Juell