All $5 back plates were new gauge starting with back 630, which was certified on January 31, 1935. The BEP typically rushed new gauge plates to press and earmarked unused old-gauge plates for cancelation. Five-dollar backs 575–628 met that fate, but 629 was saved as a model of the former design. It had never been sent to press.
 

Beginning in 1938, the BEP started salvaging master plates for conversion into production plates. These salvaged plates, also known as late-finished plates, included varieties such as $1 back 470 and $5 back 637, among others. To finish them as production plates, plate technicians etched plate serial numbers into each of the twelve subjects on the plates, certified them, and sent them to the plate vault for eventual use. Because of when they were finished, salvaged plates carried plate serials that were out of sequence with contemporary plates, and in some cases etched in the micro style that was current when the plates were produced.
 

Back 629, though, was not a true salvaged plate. All other salvaged plates were new gauge plates, and because 629 wasn’t means it was used by mistake. In fact, a BEP employee had penned in large letters "Do Not Send To Press" at the top of the plate ledger page for the plate. Regardless, 629 went to press for one short press run from November 17, 1947, until February 2, 1948, fourteen years after it was certified. Its short production run shows someone quickly realized it was an old-gauge plate and promptly removed it from service. It was canceled on February 17, 1948.