France 1849 1 Franc Vermilion

Thanks perf12

I finally found the image of the 10 centime tete-beche forgery I mentioned in the first post.




A similar cancellation type to mine but not the same.

I agree with you - a minefield indeed!

I wonder if the 1849 issue is plateable? The little circle on my stamp that hy-brasil pointed out has to be a tell, not that I'm suggesting mine is genuine, but it could help identify the forger and/or a plate position.

I just looked through the Spink auction of 2003(as GeoffHa mentioned).
Great stuff,first order,A few pics from the sale..











Emission de: 1849/1850 Valeur: 1 fr vermillon: 1fr vermilion Etat: oblitéré: Used No. Yvert et Tellier (No. Scott): 8: 9 No Ceres (No. Stanley Gibbons): 7: 16 Description: Couleur foncée, oblitéré rosette du bureau J de Paris janvier 1849, filet touché sur 3 mm dans la marge supérieure. The 1fr vermilion in a vivid dark shade with small to large margins except where touched at left top, cancelled with the January 1849 Paris bureau J Rosette cancel, has three tiny pinholes. A striking and exceptional cancellation on this rare stamp. Commentaire: Seul timbre connu détaché, il n'existe que deux lettres avec cette rosette . Pièce reproduite dans le catalogue Yvert Spécialisé 2000. Three examples are known, two on cover and this unique single. Illustrated in the Yvert Specialised catalogue 2000. Estimate € 8,500-12,500

Sold for
€5,800

The La Fayette collection, sold in Paris by Spink in November 2003, was an outstanding collection of French stamps from the classic period (i.e. pre-Sage), with particular emphasis on varieties and errors. The collection was described by Michele Chauvet in her La Collection La Fayette and in the Spink catalogue. Both books are available very cheaply from Spink. Here are a few scans relating to the 1 Fr vermilion(more to follow) - apologies for some loss at the edges:

The Post Office circular of December 1849 announcing the replacement of the vermilion by the carmine.



The outstanding piece from the collection, the block of four of the vermillon vif, containing the tete beche. This was part of an unused part-sheet of twenty-two, found in 1931 between the pages of a book. It was sold to Champion, via Behr. The block of four was removed from the larger group. In 1957, the block o four was sold to Ballat, who had the gum removed to preserve the colour of the stamps. Mme Chauvet's book includes a photographic reconstruction of the part-sheet as it would have appeared in 1931.




This is a marginal block of three of the vermillon, with maunuscript notes.



More to follow.

If you're still reading, Bobby ... Article from a recent Timbres Magazine about an elaborate fake of the 1 Fr vermilion, utilising the 40c orange

What do you guys think of this one?

Ken - As M. Calves mentions in his article, and as some of the fakes in the thread show, one indicator is colour. With the caveats about screen effects, all of the fakes appear to have a much more orange hue than the genuine 1 Fr vermilions (or light-reds as they were originally described). But I'll let our France experts pronounce on yours!

Looks like some kind of offset printed copy.(Note the regularity in rows of the color dots.)

The link here:
http://www.rfrajola.com/lafayette/l...tteindex.htm

that I did in 2003 for the Steve Walske ("Lafayette") collection that was sold by Spink, may be of use. It includes large images of most of the great rarities as well as a 21 page article by Steve.

Thank you, Richard. That was a remarkable collection.

Thanks Geoff, yes still reading