United States Stamps continued...

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EXTREMELY FINE. A FRESH AND CHOICE USED EXAMPLE OF THE 1857 5-CENT RED BROWN.

With 2010 P.S.E. certificate (XF 90; SMQ $3,250.00), only six have graded higher. (Image)

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FINE FOR THIS EXTREMELY RARE UNUSED EXAMPLE OF THE 5-CENT 1857 BRIGHT RED BROWN SHADE. THIS IS THE FIRST UNUSED EXAMPLE WE HAVE EVER OFFERED.

This is the first unused example of the sub-listed Bright Red Brown shade variety of Scott 28 we have offered. In our analysis of the 5c 1856-61 printings, we consider the Bright Red Brown (28b) and Indian Red (28A) to be in the same printing family. There are only five examples of the Indian Red with any part of original gum, and they sell for $100,000 or more. The Bright Red Brown shade is usually the default classification for a stamp that does not have sufficiently intense color to receive an Indian Red classification, but the difference is very subtle. In fact, unused examples of the Bright Red Brown (Scott 28b) shade appear to be rarer than the Indian Red.

Many collectors know this issue by type and shade, but fewer are aware of the order of production (or release). This state of confusion is partly due to the Scott Catalogue. Based on dated covers, the 5c Type I shades were released in the following order: 1) Red Brown, Scott 28, EDU 8/23/1857; 2) Indian Red, Scott 28A, EDU 3/31/1858; 3) Brick Red, Scott 27, EDU 10/6/1858; 4) Brown, Scott 29, EDU 3/21/1859, almost certainly the last printing from the first 5c plate. The second 5c plate was made from a new six-relief transfer roll with the design projections cut away at top and bottom, to varying degrees. The Type II Brown was issued first (Scott 30A, EDU 5/4/1860), and the Orange Brown printing from the same plate followed about one year later (Scott 30, EDU 5/8/1861).

The first 5c sheets to be perforated in mid-1857 undoubtedly came from the unissued supply of 5c imperforate sheets in the "1856" Red Brown shade. These are akin to 1c perforated stamps from Plate 1 Late (Type IV, Scott 23) and Plate 2, and 3c perforated stamps from the Type I plate (Scott 25). Covers dated during the second half of 1857 and first quarter of 1858 have 5c stamps in the "1856" shade of Red Brown, which look like Scott 12 with perforations. By March 31, 1858, the EDU of the Indian Red shade, a second printing must have been made. We suspect that the entire family of Red Brown, Bright Red Brown and Indian Red shades -- all of which differ from the "1856" Red Brown -- were printed at the same time during the first quarter of 1858. Looking at the EDU's, there is a largely consistent pattern of new 5c printings at the beginning of each year in 1858 (Red Brown), 1859 (Brown), 1860 (Type II Brown) and 1861 (Type II Orange Brown). The only exceptions to this pattern are the "1856" Red Brown perforated sheets released in mid-1857, which make sense in the context of the first perforated issue, and the October 1858 Brick Red.

With 2009 P.S.E. certificate. (Image)

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