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The 1847 5c Franklin



5c - Red brown
3,700,000 - Imperf - Thin bluish paper - Scott #1 - 1847
Prices quoted are for 4 margin copies

Price History

 
NY Auction Houses
 
MH
Used
Graded
MNH
Graded
MH
Used
Graded
Spring 2004
-
$250-$300
-
-
-
-
$450
-
Fall 2004
-
$200-$250
-
-
-
$2,500-$5,000
$350-$450
-
Spring 2005
-
$235-$285
-
-
-
$2,700-$5,000
$270-$585
-
Fall 2005
-
$250-$295
-
-
-
$6,500
$190-$625
-
Spring 2006
-
$210-$610
-
$9,000
-
$2,300-$5,250
$325-$1,100
-
Fall 2006
-
$570
85
-
-
$2,000-$12,250
$525
80
-
$750
85J
-
-
-
$600
85
Spring 2007
-
$265-$685
-
$6,500
-
$1,500
$350
70
-
-
-
-
-
-
$425
80
-
-
-
-
-
-
$800
90
-
-
-
-
-
-
$1,200
95
Fall 2007
-
-
-
-
-
-
$450
85
-
-
-
-
-
-
$650
90
$1,250
$260-$900
-
$12,500
85
-
$1,800
95
Spring 2008
-
$300-$455
-
-
-
-
85
-
-
-
-
-
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$700-$900
90
-
-
-
-
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-
$5,250
98
Fall 2008
-
$305-$425
-
-
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98
Spring 2009
-
-
-
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Fall 2009
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-
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Spring 2010
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Fall 2010
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Spring 2011
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Varieties

5c - Brown
3,700,000 - Imperf - Thin bluish paper
Scott #1 -  1847
Winter 2004 Auction: Used $350-$450
Spring 2006 Auction: Used $300
5c - Red brown
Dot in S variety - Scott #1 -  1847
5c - Dark brown or Grayish Brown
Imperf - Thin bluish paper - Scott #1a

 
NY Auction Houses
 
MNH
Used
Graded
MNH
MH
Graded
Used
Spring 2005
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Fall 2004
-
-
-
-
-
-
$350-$400
Spring 2005
-
-
-
-
-
-
$2,400
Fall 2005
-
-
-
-
-
-
$1,150
Spring 2006
-
$155
-
-
$2,200
-
$475-$850
Fall 2006
-
$750
90
-
$2,500
-
-
Spring 2007
-
$375
-
-
-
-
-
Fall 2007
-
$275-$475
-
-
$13,500
80
-
Spring 2008
-
$960
-
-
-
-
$350-$525
Fall 2008
-
-
-
-
-
-
Spring 2009
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Fall 2009
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-
-
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Spring 2010
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Fall 2010
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-
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Spring 2011
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-
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5c - Orange Brown
Imperf - Thin bluish paper - Scott #1b

 
NY Auction Houses
 
Used
MNH
MH
Used
Pair
Spring 2004
$300-$350
-
-
$325-$575
-
Fall 2004
$250-$300
-
-
-
-
Spring 2005
-
-
-
$325-$750
-
Fall 2005
-
-
$8,250
$850-$950
-
Spring 2006
-
-
-
-
-
Fall 2006
$900
-
$6,250 (pair)
-
-
Spring 2007
-
-
-
$800
-
Fall 2007
-
-
-
-
-
Spring 2008
-
-
-
$650
80
-
-
-
$950
90
-
-
-
95
Fall 2008
-
-
-
-
-
Spring 2009
-
-
-
-
-
Fall 2009
-
-
-
-
-
Spring 2010
-
-
-
-
-
Fall 2010
-
-
-
-
-
Spring 2011
-
-
-
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-

5c - Brown Orange
Imperf - Thin bluish paper - Scott #1b
 
NY Auction Houses
 
MNH
MH
Used
Graded
Spring 2004
-
-
$2,000-$2,600
-
Fall 2004
-
-
-
-
Spring 2005
-
-
$2,600 - $4,500
-
Fall 2005
-
-
-
-
Spring 2006
-
-
-
-
Fall 2006
-
-
-
-
Spring 2007
-
-
$850
-
Fall 2007
-
-
-
-
Spring 2008
-
-
$950
90
Fall 2008
-
-
-
-
Spring 2009
-
-
-
-
Fall 2009
-
-
-
-
Spring 2010
-
-
-
-
Fall 2010
-
-
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Spring 2011
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5c - Red orange
Imperf - Thin bluish paper - Scott #1c
Fall 2005 Auction: Used $3,000
Fall 2007 Auction: Used $6,000 - $8,500

5c - Brown orange
Imperf - Thin bluish paper - Scott #1d

 
NY Auction Houses
 
MH
Used
Graded
Spring 2004
-
-
-
Fall 2004
-
-
-
Spring 2005
-
-
-
Fall 2005
-
$850-$1,200
-
Spring 2006
-
-
-
Fall 2006
-
-
-
Spring 2007
-
$1,400
-
Fall 2007
-
-
-
Spring 2008
-
-
Fall 2008
-
-
-
Spring 2009
-
-
-
Fall 2009
-
-
-
Spring 2010
-
-
-
Fall 2010
-
-
-
Spring 2011
-
-
-

 

The 1875 Reprint

There are no known forgeries

5c - Red brown
Reprint - Imperf - Thin bluish paper - Scott #3 - 1847
The reprint is on the left
The 5c was reprinted in 1875. The differences are subtle. If the stamp has a cancel or pen mark on it then it is an original 1847. If the stamps are clear and free of cancels or pen marks then they could be the reprints.

On the original 5 cent above you see the left edge of the shirt frill (the white cravat) curls in just before the frame. On the reprint to the left it does not. Also it is positioned slightly higher on the reprint.

 
NY Auction Houses
 
MNH
MH
MNH
MH
Graded
Spring 2004
-
-
-
$525-$900
-
Fall 2004
-
-
-
$750-$950
-
Spring 2005
-
-
-
$525-$750
-
Fall 2005
-
-
-
$600-$2,000
-
Spring 2006
-
$810
-
$550-$950
-
Fall 2006
-
$800
-
$1,100
90
Spring 2007
-
$400-$500
-
-
-
Fall 2007
-
$375-$750
-
$850
-
Spring 2008
-
-
-
90
Fall 2008
-
-
-
-
Spring 2009
-
-
-
-
-
Fall 2009
-
-
-
-
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Spring 2010
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-
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Fall 2010
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-
-
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Spring 2011
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-
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The Design Process

The inspiration for the design was Jean-Baptiste Greuze's portrait of Ben Franklin,
the father of the US posal Service and the nations first postmaster.
The engraving had been previously used on Michigan's banknotes of 1836.
The stamp vignette is on the left, Greuze's portrait is on the right.
I have flipped Greuze's portrait for the purpose of comparison. The
original had Benjamin Franklin facing right.
The original frames of the 1847 design mockups in black. The frames are on thin card, hand-drawn in pencil and black ink with a light black India wash.
The vignettes were drawn by Rawdon, Wright, Hatch & Edson
Die Proof
Final Specimen

Large Multiples

The largest reported multiples of the 5ยข are :

  • a used block of eleven (privately held)
  • used multiple of fourteen (Swiss Postal Museum in Lucern).


Block of 12 of the 5c Reproduction (#3)

Key points when buying this stamp

The Stamps History

This, and its sister 10c stamp, were the first stamps issued by the Post Office in the US. They were not the first stamp, this honor goes to the provisionals. This stamp was issued six years after the British Penny Black, the worlds first postage stamp. The firm that produced the New York Provisional, Rawdon, Wright, Hatch & Edson, made a proposal to supply the stamps on March 20, 1847 was succesful in winning the contract. 4,400,000 stamps were printed and 3,700,00 were issued during their lifetime of 1847 to 1851.

There are only 30 examples of July 1847, the earliest documented
usage. The above example sold for $1,200 in May 2007.

To learn about the 1847 issue click here