US 1851 1c Franklin Type I

Maker: United States (USPOD)
Year: 1851
Rank: 40 of 100
Identifier: Scott 5/5A, 1c blue, Type I, imperforate — the complete-design plate position 7R1E

US 1851 1c Franklin Type I

Price-guide value, not a sale: $90,000, dated 2024-01-01. This is not a sale. It is what the market was asking, and no transaction is recorded behind it.

What is it, and why is it in the FLOAT 100?

The '1c 1851' Type I from the single perfect plate position (7R1E) — the most celebrated US classic-issue plating rarity.

Scott 5/5A, 1c blue, Type I, imperforate — the complete-design plate position 7R1E

What is the best-sourced number for it?

Figure: $90,000
Kind: Price-guide value, not a sale
Date: 2024-01-01

A price-guide value is an editorial estimate, not a transaction. Guides lag the market and smooth over grade and condition. It is useful as a floor for how the trade thought about the object, and it should be checked against a realized sale before anything rests on it.

By reference price, US 1851 1c Franklin Type I is number 46 of 99 in the stamps entries of the FLOAT 100. 75 of those 99 rest on a realized sale; the rest carry an asking price or a guide value, and each page says which. Rank within the FLOAT 100 itself (40 here) is editorial: how much an object defines its field, not price alone.

How this is made

The figure: One reference price, shown with its own kind. FLOAT does not average it with anything or adjust it for time.
Realized or not: A realized price is a completed sale. A market asking price and a price-guide value are not sales, and are labeled as such wherever they appear.
Why no grade ladder: Most FLOAT 100 entries are individual objects. There is one of this, so there is no population and no spread across grades to show.
Archive: 2026-08-08

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FLOAT is a free tracker. Add the stamps you own, keep photos and certificates with each item, and see a value built from real sales at your item's grade. This page is a public reference; it does not offer, price or sell insurance.