5c Brick Red (27). Original gum which is very lightly hinged along the perfs at bottom left, radiant color in the true Brick Red shade, unusually choice centering with perfs clear of outer projections on all four sides

VERY FINE AND CHOICE. THIS IS EASILY ONE OF THE FINEST ORIGINAL-GUM EXAMPLES OF THE 1858 5-CENT BRICK RED IN EXISTENCE.

Many collectors know this issue by type and shade, but few are aware of the order of production (or release). This state of confusion is partly due to the Scott Catalogue. The distinctive Brick Red shade of the 5c 1857 Issue comes first in the series of Scott-listed perforated 5c issues, but its true release date comes later in the sequence.

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; and 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).

After surveying dozens of classic United States sale catalogues, we found approximately twenty examples of Scott 27 with original gum, allowing for duplicate offerings and excluding the one known original-gum block. Of the stamps we counted, about half had perfs touching on two sides or were deeply cut into on one side. Almost two-thirds had stains or small faults.

We are confident that this stamp is one of the two finest original-gum examples of the 5c Brick Red. Compared with every other we located using Power Search, it has superior centering, and of course it is sound and fresh.

With 2012 P.F. certificate (VF 80). By way of comparison, the highest grade awarded by P.S.E. to an original-gum copy is 70 (only two are graded, the other is graded below 50).

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