Classification Of 5¢ 1847

The catalog for the upcoming Siegel sale of the William H. Gross 1847 collection has a very nice one page discussion together with a full page of photographs on the subject of the 5¢ 1847 colors (pgs. 58-59 in the catalog). I'm not trying to assemble of huge number of Scott #1's, but I would like to own a few examples representative the major colors, and of each impression category. The article was very helpful in my understanding of how to best approach this goal.

The article points out the historical inconsistency of expertising in this area, and that is disconcerting. It makes me wonder if the difference in market value of a #1, #1a and #1b is really justified, and if impression, in fact, is the primary factor to consider in regards value.

I want to say Wade Saadi had a nice writeup in the Collector's Club Philatelist on 5c 1847 colors, maybe 20 years ago. Sadly, I parted with my run of this, as it took up a whole bookshelf, but it was a good piece as I recall.

I agree, Siegel's writeup here is useful.

Wade Saadi wrote an article on the colors of Scott #1 in American Philatelist April 1997. Scott #1 had five different deliveries, each with a variety of color and printing impression differences. 60 colors+ are noted, if not more.

I've been collecting 5c 1847 for about 20 years and, although I am nothing approaching an expert, I have learned a few things about 'value' for the issue. There is an indefinable 'secret sauce' when it comes to value, that takes into account color/shade, impression, plate varieties, cancel, and (of course) condition. If a specific, in demand, detail is described and for sale, it will attract the people that are looking for that detail. Less so, if it is not called out. As for color, there are probably as many colors/shades with the 5c 1847 as with the 3c 1851, but there are LOTS fewer 1847's that have survived. There are many examples (and quite a number in the current Siegel sale) of a certed stamp that is CLEARLY not the color called out on the cert - and basics, like a 1 from a 1a. Siegel's is pretty good at noting these discrepancies. It used to be, if you had a 3c 1851 that you believed was a scarce shade, you would send it to one of the very few recognized experts (like Amonette or Chase) - sending it to the PF wasn't necessarily the wise move. I am not aware of a universally accepted shade/color expert for the 1847 issue (ETA: Wade Saadi may be close). He/she may be out there, but I am not aware of that person. There are loads of experts, don't get me wrong, just not of the caliber of an Amonette or a Chase with the later issue.

This won't be very satisfying, but the best way to know what you are looking at - whether it is described as such, or not - is to look at a bunch of them yourself. Look at the ones that are called out, and in time you will recognize those colors/shades even when they are not called out as such.

As for values, I think the scarcity vs value is reasonable. If we see an increase in demand for shades/colors (similar to that in the 3c 1851 market) I would expect that the values of the scarcer shades would go up. In a sense, buying scarcer shades may be a good investment - a product waiting for a market.

I find it interesting that there are so many shades/colors of the 5c 1847 and the 3c 1851, but not nearly as many for the other values of those series'. Apparently, it was hard to duplicate red/orange/brown inks, so we end up with a huge breadth of shades in stamps of that family of colors.

Thanks for your thoughtful reply. I knew there was no easy answer to my question, but I wanted to know as a practical matter how to approach collecting the 1847 issue. Your thoughts garnered from 20 years of collecting the issue was the kind of discussion I was hoping to start.

Hammer prices from the upcoming Siegel auctions will say a lot about current valuations, although I'll still have to try to figure out what elements of the 'secret sauce' made the difference. The publicity generated by these two auctions may also generate a short term increase in demand, and that has to be considered, too. I am an example of a collector being drawn to an issue that I previously thought wasn't that interesting.

I will follow this discussion with interest. Plate varieties, impressions and cancellations all intrigue me but colors all too often seem to be like chasing ghosts, in particular shades and hues or whatever term one wishes to use for subtle differences in the perceived color of 150 plus year old ink. 70's and 78'fall into the same category as the 1847 issues for me. Even comparison of PF certs only leads to more questions and fogginess.

Were these all not hand mixed inks?

There are a bunch of 1847's hitting the market over the next month or so. Of course, there is the Gross sale, but there are 40 or 50 examples in the Siegel sale before the Gross sale. Also, there are a bunch more (of lower quality, IMO) in the Langs's sale with Kelleher. I think 2020 will provide a new 'setpoint' for the 1847 Issue - we will get a new photo of the market for all kinds of aspects of the issue. Years from now, when someone asks what a particularly scarce shade of the 5c 1847 is worth, the reply will be something like, "Well, back in 2020, an example sold at auction for $xxxxx."

We are approaching a once-in-a-lifetime (well, maybe it is more on the order of a decadal opportunity) chance at a wide range of high-quality 1847's. I don't think this will flood the market. I expect 1847 collectors (and collectors of means who are hoping to improve the quality of their early USA) will all be 'attending' these auctions and will 'stretch' a bit in order to absorb it all. Think of the starving boa constrictor that finally bags a large pig. It'll hurt getting it down, but he will unhinge his jaw and 'wrap' his mouth around the carcass. He will be set for a long time to come. I suspect we will see collectors come out of the shadows to participate.

FWIW, I imagine this 'setpoint' will have a big fat asterisk next to it. *this setpoint occurred during the Coronavirus Pandemic. I suspect there will be similar asterisks next to all kinds of records - the 2020 football season, the election, the circulation figures for The Restaurant Quarterly, etc. Funny thing is, I think this 'setpoint' would have happened anyway - I think the reasons for these stamps coming on the market are completely independent of the Pandemic. Anyway, OUR behavior will be making this setpoint - we want to know what the market is, or will be, yet we are the ones participating in the auction realizations.

Excuse me while I unhinge my jaw...

Excellent perspective Mootermutt. The Gross sale was scheduled long before the pandemic and I doubt that Lang scheduled his earthly departure to coincide with the pandemic.

At the August APS show in Columbus in 2011, there were three major exhibits of 1847 issue stamp - Eubanks, Mirsky, and Gross. Gross had previously purchased the Saadi and Hackmey collections - so it was really the five best collections of 1847 material all on display at the same time. To my knowledge, Eubanks is the only one of the five still still collecting the 1847s. This is a once in a generation chance to compete for key material.

I have always found the that the 1847's pose kind of an interesting challenge. As a whole, they are fairly 'common'. Many were printed, and if you want one, just come up with the money, and you can get one. You won't have to wait if you aren't picky.

The real challenge is finding really top-tier material, in terms of variety, color, cancellation, usage, quality, etc.

What I find is that as many 1847's as there are out there, there is a surprisingly small subset of them that I would consider 'top-tier'.

This will clearly be a market inflection point for these.

Anyone up for starting a thread for us to share our own 1847 collection images?