5c Brick Red (27). Unused (no gum), rich color, well-centered with margins clear of projections on all sides, tiny corner crease at bottom right and natural inclusion at center

VERY FINE APPEARING AND RARE UNUSED EXAMPLE OF THE 1858 5-CENT BRICK 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. 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. The distinctive Brick Red shade might have been the result of an aberration in mixing ink to achieve the darker Red Brown color, resulting in stamps that look more like the 3c value (Scott 26 and related types). The earliest documented use of October 8, 1858, points to a late release of sheets from the early 1858 printing, which produced the Bright Red Brown and Indian Red shades.

With 2012 P.F. certificate

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