Considerable progress on the plate scratch sheets

[Pat R]

For a long time I had been mainly working on sheet #1 of the plate scratch
sheets. Recently I decided to get back to the other sheets with a little different
approach.

I have 300+ plate scratch cards that I had been keeping in alphabetical
order so when I needed a certain scan it was easy to find that card. A couple
of weeks ago I decided to separate them into groups for the sheet/partial
sheet they were on. Doing this left me with six stacks plus about fifteen
cards that were not assigned to a sheet.

This led to filling in a couple of loose ends that had halted the progress
on a couple of the sheets.

When I started working on them I was referring to them as the A-B, C-D,
E, F and G sheets but I think it will be less confusing if I start using numbers.

The A-B sheet had a back plate that was used on two fronts one of
the sheets has all SC 150/ 649 subjects and the other is all no print subjects with that back, this will be sheet 1A and 1B. The C-D sheet was also used on
two fronts and that will be 2A and 2B.

Sheet #3 is the one I'm going to start with. I always thought based on the
scratches that E,F and G or two of the three could be one sheet but I couldn't
tie them together until I put the scratches in groups.

I was able to connect E and F to make Sheet #3 and the key was these three
Wallace scratches that were in the group of un-assigned scratches.
0 Wallace Group.jpg

This is by far the most complicated sheet. It has several scratches and a couple
of them have spots where the scratch jumps up or down a little like they do
on these Crandall's.
Crandall [5b] Back.jpgCrandall [6] Back.jpg

Crandall was on the back left of sheet F and has three horizontal scratches that
line up with all three of the Wallace scratches. Joss was on the back right of sheet E and the three Wallace scratches match up with Joss combining the E and F sheets making these two partial sheets #3.

This creates a sheet that is at least 24 wide by 11 high based on the scratches
but it could possibly be larger.

Here is a small version of this sheet with the scratches highlighted in blue.
I will provide a link with larger scans for anyone that is interested.
Sheet 3 Full Highlighted.jpg

Here's what the front of the sheet looks like.
Sheet 3 (2).jpg

I tried to do the scans at 300 dpi but about 3/4 through it was to large to
open in paint so I had to use 240 dpi scans. This was very complicated
(there are 77 different plate scratches on this sheet). The hardest part is
lining everything up with different cuts and wear on the cards. It's not
possible for the cards themselves to line up but the scratches and printing
do.

https://imageevent.com/patrickr/upda...escratchsheets

There was progress on the other sheets too including sheet #1 that show
a double print of Johnson that I will post later in this thread.

[RedsFan1941]

pat, i love the research you are doing because not only does it give us our best possible look at what a sheet looked like but because you ...

1. possess the orginality to approach the task in a way few other people could think of, and

2. you began this research not knowing where it would take you, as opposed to setting out with a theory in mind and looking for only those facts that would support it. what you are doing it true research.

bravo!!!

[steve B]

That's just amazing Pat.

I never imagined anyone getting this far this quickly. It's a much harder challenge than plating a stamp. (No blocks, no records, and no known plate size) The guys that did some of that stuff took decades, and they worked in the 20's and 30's when the stuff was available by the boxful for what we'd consider to be very little.

I'm not sure if this will link ok, it's probably in a members only area. But if it does, the "fun" begins around page 42 or so. https://d2jf3tgwe889fp.cloudfront.ne...Bookmarked.pdf

[greco827]

Wow!!! Super impressive research and work on this! 264 card sheet, very interesting. Any thoughts on how "double names" fit into what you have found so far?

[edhans]

Just spectacular work, Pat. If they ever start a collector's hall of fame, you'd have to be a charter member.

[Pat R]

Originally Posted by edhans

Just spectacular work, Pat. If they ever start a collector's hall of fame, you'd have to be a charter member.

Thank You Ed. The Shipke you have for sale on your site is one of the
scratches on this sheet.
Shipke-Cobb.jpg

[Pat R]

Originally Posted by greco827

Wow!!! Super impressive research and work on this! 264 card sheet, very interesting. Any thoughts on how "double names" fit into what you have found so far?

Thanks Ronnie, Steve and Jason.

Jason, This is just my opinion but based on what I've seen there is a split
between the 150 series where some sheets were printed with two or three different vertical subjects for that phase and another phase where they
were printed with one vertical subject. I have yet to see a two name
card with a plate scratch.

The 350 series looks like it could have been done the same way or all of them could have been printed with two or three vertical subjects. A big % of
the two name cards are from this series.


It appears that the 460 series were printed with the same vertical subject for the entire sheet for all sheets based on the lack of any confirmed two name cards from this series which makes sense to me because of the smaller
number of subjects compared to the other two series.

[tedzan]

Originally Posted by Pat R

It appears that the 460 series were printed with the same vertical subject for the entire sheet for all sheets based on the lack of any confirmed two name cards from this series which makes sense to me because of the smaller
number of subjects compared to the other two series.

Great stuff, Pat.

Your 24 x 11 card sheet (illustrated in post #1) is very impressive.


And, your thinking regarding the 460 series printing coincides with my theory. Especially, as it applies to the Exclusive 12 sheets.

Here is my concept of an Exclusive 12 (460-only series) printed sheet......


.. v ............................................ 19" x 24" sheet .............................................v




TED Z

T206 Reference
.

[greco827]

Originally Posted by Pat R

Thanks Ronnie, Steve and Jason.

Jason, This is just my opinion but based on what I've seen there is a split
between the 150 series where some sheets were printed with two or three different vertical subjects for that phase and another phase where they
were printed with one vertical subject. I have yet to see a two name
card with a plate scratch.

The 350 series looks like it could have been done the same way or all of them could have been printed with two or three vertical subjects. A big % of
the two name cards are from this series.


It appears that the 460 series were printed with the same vertical subject for the entire sheet for all sheets based on the lack of any confirmed two name cards from this series which makes sense to me because of the smaller
number of subjects compared to the other two series.

Makes sense. I love it!!! Double name with a scratch would be a nice feather in this very cool hat.