XV.
Two fine, very short side-locks, reaching to the middle of the ear-lobe, which is rather large. There are seven very thin locks of hair, almost hair lines, in the upper part of the head, extending to the back of the head, each with a curve in the centre. Below these there is a short, thick bunch, or lock, bent upwards into the space left by the curve of the seventh thin lock. There is one short, thick front-lock and three in the back row, side by side, nearly at right angles to the bunch of hair which is bent upwards. The lowest front-lock slants a considerable distance across the ear, while the lock immediately above it is much longer and reaches into the queue. The latter is very thin and shows no subdivisions.
Doubtless the thirty varieties of this die would have been highly prized by collectors and would have been well known many years ago if American philatelists had taken the trouble to study them with a view to systematic classification. Certainly, without a system the collector's task is troublesome, but, with a proper classification, the difficulty vanishes and what has hitherto been considered an annoyance becomes a pleasurable pursuit. This issue greatly favors the collector of cut square specimens, for a good many dies can easily be found. On the contrary, the collector of entires, especially the advanced collector who desires mint copies, will find it difficult to get unused specimens of many dies.
The paper used is white and buff, and, as mentioned before, both the quality and color differ widely. For instance: "Buff" covers shades which would be called at the present time light chocolate, brown, oriental buff, light yellow, etc. A great many envelopes are of soft paper, nearly unsurfaced, while there are numerous others having a hard, brittle texture, highly surfaced or glazed. Often six shades may be obtained, and they are certainly worthy of being collected with care.
It has already been stated that the thirty varieties can be classified, and that such classification is a great help to the philatelist. Fortunately, the first ten dies are quickly recognized by the long, horizontal cross stroke of "T" of "THREE," and "T" of "CENTS," while the remaining twenty dies have a short top stroke, and this differentiation, in the writer's humble opinion, should have been introduced long ago in the general catalogues.
Before commencing the study of the first ten varieties, it is only proper to state that even Mr. Harrison has put himself on record that: "the ten earlier varieties are by no means easy to separate." Indeed, they are decidedly more troublesome and require far closer work than any of the other Nesbitt die varieties. The student is sure to find many specimens in which the upper curves are entirely worn away, and in judging the spacing of the letters errors are likely to occur, due to heavy impressions, which are not infrequent.
Being well aware of these annoyances, the writer has tried, to the best of his ability, to make the description of these ten varieties as lucid as possible, and as they now stand they represent the labor of many hours. Expressions like "far", "near" or "close" are, of course, subject to individual interpretation, but by comparing the illustrations accompanying the text, what is meant by "close", etc., will be easily understood. Wherever greater accuracy seemed needful, the distance between two letters, either at the top or the base has been added. If a letter is stated to be below the level of another, the student, as a rule, should have no difficulty in recognizing this fact. This is true of varieties 4 and 5, but a certain amount of training of the eye is required to recognize quickly the lower position of "T" and "E" of "THREE" in varieties 1, 2 and 10.
Together with the new die two new sizes of envelopes appear, known as Knives 4 and 5, respectively; both are termed "Full Letter" and have three black lines on the inside of the left side flap.
"T" WITH LONG CROSS STROKE.