New Orleans La., 5c Bright Orange Red on White (62X6). Full to large margins, pure Bright Orange Red shade, bold "DUE" straightline applied by the United States post office on mail received from the seceded states, which was treated as unpaid, and faint New Orleans "JUN" (1861) circular datestamp, thins reinforced with paper

EXTREMELY FINE APPEARANCE. ONLY SEVEN EXAMPLES OF THE NEW ORLEANS 5-CENT RED ARE RECORDED, INCLUDING FOUR ON WHITE PAPER FROM THE FIRST PRINTING. HOWEVER, ONE OF THE FOUR IS A HYBRID BROWN-AND-RED SHADE, AND ONE HAS NOT BEEN SEEN IN MORE THAN 70 YEARS. IT IS ALSO THE ONLY COLOR ERROR CANCELLED BY THE NORTHERN “DUE (3cts)” MARKING APPLIED TO MAIL AFTER SUSPENSION OF REGULAR MAIL SERVICE IN JUNE 1861. AN OUTSTANDING CONFEDERATE RARITY.

There is only one true color error among all Southern Postmasters' Provisionals: the New Orleans 5c Red, which is found on both White and Bluish papers.

In his 1978 Congress Book article, Dr. Hubert C. Skinner theorized that either "too much red ink was introduced onto the platen in blending the brown ink or the components of the ink separated while the press was idle for a time." This, he speculated, "produced a mottled impression on a very few sheets" and "would have been corrected as soon as the rollers passed across the platen a few times re-mixing or blending the ink." The discovery of the hybrid Red-and-Brown stamp (Sale 1022, lot 1101) confirmed Dr. Skinner's theory. The ink mixture error had to have occurred more than once, because the stamps on White paper were printed in June, and the stamps on Blue paper were printed in August.

The five stamps offered in lots 1100 to 1104 in our 2012 sale of the "D.K." collection (Sale 1022) constituted the largest number of the New Orleans 5c Red Color Error ever assembled by one collector. Two of those stamps are offered in this Rarities sale. Each shade of Red is different

Our records contain the following seven examples of the 5c Red error:

White Paper (62X6): 1) Unused with traces of gum, ex Ferrary, Hind and Brooks; 2) "DUE (3cts)" straightline, partly rebacked over thins, ex Caspary, Lilly, Kilbourne and "D.K." collection, the stamp offered here; 3) Cut in at bottom, tied by "Paid" straightline on part of cover to Mrs. Wm. Reynaud, Baton Rouge, photo by Hiram Deats in P.F. files; 4) Mixture of Red and Brown, corner strike of circular datestamp, partly rebacked over thins and tear, ex "D.K." collection.

Blue Paper (62X7): 5) Dec. 4 circular datestamp, thin spots and small repair, ex Crocker, Felton and "D.K." collection; 6) Sep. 17 circular datestamp, small faults, ex Ferrary, Hind, Lilly and "D.K." collection, offered in this sale as lot 755; 7) Position 1, "Paid" and part datestamp, thinned with small nicks at left, ex Caspary, Dr. Skinner and "D.K." collection.

Ex Caspary, Lilly, Kilbourne and "D.K." collection.

Image Magnifier / Download

Power Search for Comparables