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 |
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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 |
|
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
$700-$900 |
90 |
|
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
$5,250 |
98 |
|
| Fall 2008 | - |
$305-$425 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
98 |
|
| Spring 2009 | - |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
| Fall 2009 | - |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
| Spring 2010 | - |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
| Fall 2010 | - |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
| Spring 2011 | - |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
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Varieties
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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 ![]() |
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5c - Dark brown or Grayish Brown Imperf - Thin bluish paper - Scott #1a |
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NY Auction Houses |
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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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| Spring 2010 | - |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
| Fall 2010 | - |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
| Spring 2011 | - |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
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5c - Orange Brown
Imperf - Thin bluish paper - Scott #1b
NY Auction Houses |
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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 | - |
- |
- |
80 |
|
- |
- |
- |
90 |
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- |
- |
- |
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 |
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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 | - |
- |
- |
- |
| Spring 2011 | - |
- |
- |
- |

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
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5c - Red
brown 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 |
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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 | - |
- |
- |
- |
- |
| Spring 2010 | - |
- |
- |
- |
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| Fall 2010 | - |
- |
- |
- |
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| Spring 2011 | - |
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The Design Process
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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. |
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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 |
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Die Proof |
Final Specimen |
Large Multiples
The largest reported multiples of the 5ยข are :
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Key points when buying this stamp
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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 To learn about the 1847 issue click here |