"It is worth mentioning, however, that while dies 9, 15 and 26 (the latter the die under consideration) all have the small bust of Washington, there are small differences in each which show them to be different engravings. * * In die 26 the front hair shows only five locks and the back hair only four lines."
We shall presently see that, like the three cents, red of 1853, (Die A) the diemakers have produced different groups of heads which, once known, are not only an absolute means of differentiating the varieties, but also protect the collector from acquiring a multitude of the same die.
Although, as stated above, the die of the three cents rose equals that of the three cents red in the use of various heads, it is, otherwise, quite dissimilar to the first issue, as will be seen presently.
As in the varieties of the two cent dies the horizontal and vertical dimensions of the three cents vary greatly. After careful research and taking the advice of experienced philatelists, it was decided to adopt only two sizes for classification: i.e.
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.