#205 1882 5¢ Yellow Brown

Basic Information

Color: Yellow Brown
Subject: James Garfield
Paper: Soft porous paper
Printing method: line-engraved intaglio on flat plates
Printer: American Bank Note Co.
Perforations: 12
Scott #: 205
Quantity issued: 170,894,020
Issued: April 10th, 1882

Value

An unused stamp with perfect gum: $200-$250
An unused stamp with gum and a hinge mark: $10-$30
A used stamp: $1-$4

About 5¢ Garfield

Assassination of James Garfield

The creation of the 5¢ Garfield stamp was prompted by the assassination and subsequent death of President James A. Garfield in September 1881. Released on April 10, 1882, the stamp was designed as a memorial or "mourning stamp" to honor the fallen president, making it the second time in US history a president was honored on a stamp within a year of their death, following Abraham Lincoln in 1866.

The stamp was officially issued on April 10, 1882, less than seven months after his death. The stamp was intended to be printed in black as a traditional mourning stamp (similar to the 1866 Lincoln stamp), but Mrs. Garfield requested that the color be changed to brown.

Usage

#205 on a cover to Vermont

Usages of the 5¢ Garfield Stamp:
The 5¢ Garfield stamp was primarily used to meet the newly established 5-cent U.S. postage rate for letters to foreign countries within the Universal Postal Union (UPU). It was a staple of late 19th-century US international postage

Specimen and Sample stamps

Value $70
Value $25
Value $40

The Inspiration for the Design

James Black’s photograph of James Garfield

The portrait of James A. Garfield featured on the 1882 5¢ US postage stamp was engraved by the American Bank Note Company based on a photograph by James Wallace Black (or sometimes attributed to his studio partnership, Black & Case).

The original photograph was a popular portrait taken during Garfield's time in the US House of Representatives (circa 1870–1880)

Plates

#205 was issued with the following plate #'s

399-400, 488-489, K 537-541