Size A:—to include all stamps measuring horizontally 24 mm. but not exceeding 25 mm.
Size B:—to include all stamps measuring horizontally 25-1/2 mm. or more.
In our study of the three cents red of 1853 we noted, in addition to the various heads, some minor differences in the spacing of the letters forming the inscription. Referring now to the three cents of 1864, even the unskilled eye of the layman will be struck with the surprising changes, not only in the spacing of the letters forming a word, but, also, in the relative position of the words to each other and their distance from a definite point, such, for instance, as the figure "3." The subsequent cuts well illustrate this point.
In the first the "S" of "CENTS" is several mm. distant from the right figure "3": in the second it is close to "3". The same remarks apply to the "U" of "UNITED" in its relative position to the left figure "3". In the second cut there is also a square period after the final "E" of "THREE".
Looking at cuts 3 and 4 the great variety of spacing between the letters of a word is strikingly apparent in the word "THREE." These differences are easily detected by the 10 mm. unit distance measurement, which has been explained in the introductory chapter of this series of articles. The subjoined diagram proves that there are at least three forms of each word, and, with a little study, the collector will soon recognize the leading types.
It seems strange that such great and palpable differences remained unknown until 1892. Quoting from the work of Messrs. Tiffany, Bogert & Rechert, we are, however, informed: "Heretofore it has not been noticed that there are a large number of minor varieties of this die depending on the relative position of the parts."
Commenting on Die 26 (three cents rose) the writers make some valuable suggestions, but they discourage the would-be student from going deeper into the subject by the closing paragraph: "So few collectors would be interested in looking for these varieties that it has been thought unnecessary to devote space to them in a general work." In the writer's opinion the most valuable hint thrown out by Messrs. Tiffany, Bogert & Rechert is contained in the following sentence: "If a thread be laid along the lower stroke of the "U" it will pass at different distances from the tip of the nose and fall on different parts of the right numeral, of the space below it, or even as low as the "S" of "CENTS."