Recently I posed a question regarding the genesis of the card proof on the left below. It appeared to have been a card proof (57P4?) from the so-called Premiere Gravures (August Issues) which have been determined to be essays. I had surmised that it was possible that when the plates were remade/refurbished for the card proofs printed in one of the five printings between 1879 and 1894, a transfer roll from the Premieres Gravures was issued by mistake to make a reentry. This is similar to the error that was made in the Franklin/Washingtons which led to the 5¢ carmine errors (457, 485, 505).Discussions with Peter Schwartz at The Museum of United States Essays and Proofs suggested the item noted as 67-E9d is likely to be an india proof which had been torn/bent and was skillfully mounted on card for reinforcement; however, examination to confirm this fact appeared to be inconclusive. Subsequently, I had occasion to visit the Americas99 show in Orlando where I saw a similar item in the display of 1861-1867s by Richard Drews. On discussing it with him, he said that card proofs of the 1861 August issues had been noted by Brazer.
Subsequently, I sent the item off to American Philatelic Expertising Service for an assessment. I have just received the item back with the following opinion that it is: "United States, Scott No. 67-E9d, India paper on card, genuine, crease."
. . . .
67-E9d 76P4Here is an india proof (76P3) for design reference.
I've had the proof for at least 35 years when it was bought at auction from Herman Herst as one of a set of 1861 card proofs. I suspect that its previous owners never looked at it closely.
All in all, I feel good to have finally reached some resolution of an item which had been sitting on my find-out-about-this list for so long. Now I'll have to find some other puzzlers.
Posted August 23, 1999
