Sale 1391 — United States Stamps
Sale Date — Tuesday-Thursday, 13-15 October, 2026
Category — 1861 Issue First Designs and Colors (Scott 56-60)
1c Indigo, First Design (55). Unused (no gum), intense shade in the unmistakable First Design color on bright paper, small thin spot at center is barely noticeable
FINE APPEARANCE. A RARE EXAMPLE OF THE ONE-CENT 1861 FIRST DESIGN. ONLY 22 UNUSED EXAMPLES ARE AVAILABLE TO COLLECTORS.
The 1c 1861 First Design was printed from a plate that was used only for the trial printing. It was replaced by a plate made from a modified die and transfer roll—the second plate was used to print the regularly issued 1c stamps.
Our census of Scott 55, available at https://siegelauctions.com/census/us/scott/55, contains a total of 26 examples. Three have target cancels and one is in Miller collection owned by The New York Public Library. Of the remaining 22 copies, at least thirteen have faults ranging from serious defects to pulled perfs. The example offered here, with a minor thin spot, is very desirable.
Census no. 55-UNC-23. Ex Drews. With 1993 P.F. certificate. A footnote in Scott Catalogue states that this stamp "is valued with perfs cutting slightly into the design at top."
1c Indigo, First Design (55). Unused (no gum), deep rich color and intense impression as is typical for this First Design rarity, short perf and tiny thin spot at top
VERY FINE APPEARING EXAMPLE OF THE RARE ONE-CENT 1861 FIRST DESIGN. ONLY 22 UNUSED EXAMPLES ARE AVAILABLE TO COLLECTORS.
The 1c 1861 First Design was printed from a plate that was used only for the trial printing. It was replaced by a plate made from a modified die and transfer roll—the second plate was used to print the regularly issued 1c stamps.
Our census of Scott 55, available at https://siegelauctions.com/census/us/scott/55, contains a total of 26 examples. Three have target cancels and one is in Miller collection owned by The New York Public Library. Of the remaining 22 copies, at least thirteen have faults ranging from serious defects to pulled perfs. The example offered here, with a tiny thin spot, is very desirable.
Census no. 55-UNC-21. Ex. Dr. Claiborne Johnson, Jr. and Curtis. With 1982 and 1992 P.F. certificates. A footnote in Scott Catalogue states that this stamp "is valued with perfs cutting slightly into the design at top." Scott value as original gum
3c Brown Rose, First Design (56). Mint N.H., nicely balanced margins, deep rich color on fresh paper, Extremely Fine, with 2014 P.F. certificate for L-shaped block of three, this the bottom right stamp, Scott value as hinged
3c Brown Rose, First Design (56). Original gum, rich color, reperfed at right (not noted as such on certificate), Very Fine appearance, with clear 2005 P.F. certificate
5c Brown, First Design (57). Original gum described as "redistributed" on accompanying certificate, rich color and detailed impression, some previous small stains have been expertly removed and a previous added perf tip at top left shown on certificate is also no longer present
FINE APPEARANCE. A RARE ORIGINAL-GUM EXAMPLE OF THE 1861 5-CENT FIRST DESIGN.
Our census of Scott 57, available at https://siegelauctions.com/census/us/scott/57, contains a total of 37 copies of this rarity. Of these, one is in the Miller collection owned by The New York Public Library. Of the 36 available to collectors, two are cancelled, 19 have no gum, five have part original gum and ten have full (or nearly full) original gum.
Census no. 57-OG-35. Ex Lessin and Curtis. With 1998 P.F. certificate.
10c Dark Green, First Design (62B). Original gum, h.r., deep rich color, tiny corner creases top left and bottom right, few faintly toned perf tips at right, Fine appearing and scarce original-gum example of this issue, with 1997 P.F. certificate
10c Dark Green, First Design (62B). Intense dark shade, attractive centering and margins, nearly face-free large Boston "Paid" grid cancels, Very Fine, with 2018 P.F. and 2019 P.S.E. certificates (F-VF 75), SCV $1,900
12c Intense Black, First Design (59). Unused (no gum), intense shade and impression, light vertical crease, corner perf crease at bottom right, few short perfs
VERY FINE APPEARANCE. ONLY SIXTEEN EXAMPLES OF THE 12-CENT 1861 ISSUE FIRST DESIGN ARE RECORDED. THIS IS THE RAREST OF THE FIRST DESIGNS AND FIRST COLORS.
The 12c is the rarest of the 1861 First Designs and Colors, with a total of 16 examples recorded, including one in the Benjamin K. Miller collection owned by The New York Public Library. Another has manuscript "New" written across the design, leaving fourteen. Our census of the 12c 1861 First Design is available at https://siegelauctions.com/census/us/scott/59. Of the 15 copies available to collectors, only ten have full original gum. Of these ten, only three are sound. Only one of the no-gum stamps is sound (census no. 06).
Census no. 59-UNC-01. Ex "Alan" and Przybyl. With 2010 and 2025 P.F. certificates.
24c Dark Violet, First Color (60). Original gum, deep rich color in this distinctive First Color
FRESH AND FINE. A RARE SOUND ORIGINAL-GUM EXAMPLE OF THE 24-CENT 1861 DARK VIOLET EARLY TRIAL PRINTING. ONE OF THE RAREST OF THE 24-CENT 1861-63 ISSUE SHADES.
The Dark Violet trial printing and Violet regular issue shades are often confused, and the Scott Catalogue adds to the confusion by putting the Dark Violet (the old Scott 60) in the Trial Color Proofs section as 70TCe, while the Violet gets a front seat as Scott 70c. In our opinion, there is no good reason to relegate the Dark Violet to the Trial Color Proof section.
Ex Drews. With 1968 P.F. certificate.