Cape of Good Hope Triangulars: 1853-64 One Penny Reds Part B

1864 Stanley Gibbons 18 One Penny carmine-red

(De La Rue printing)

Into the Deep Blue

This "Part B"  blog post will look at the 1863-64 De La Rue printings of the One Penny Reds. The Perkins, Bacon printings (on both blued paper and "white" paper) for the One Penny were covered in "Part A" - link below.

1853-64 One Pence Reds Part A

In addition, the Four Pence blues were covered with the blog posts below...

Four Pence Blues Part A

Four Pence Blues Part B

To review, the Perkins, Bacon stamps are found in colors "brick red" (upper row, shown below), "rose" (left lower row), and "deep red-rose" (right lower row).

In contrast, the De La Rue printings of the 1p reds (shown below) have a discernable change in color: namely "deep carmine red", "deep brown red", and "brownish red".

Compare and contrast the PB color hues with the DLR color hues. I think the "deep carmine red", with the "carmine" hue, is enough different from the "deep red-rose", with the "rose" hue, so there should be not too much difficulty telling them apart.

Above is an overall scan of my DLR 1d stamps. It is helpful in determining the comparative color hues.

There is not a huge difference in catalog pricing for the DLR one pence color hues: CV $325-$350 (used).

Now, let's look at each one.

Example 1:1864 Stanley Gibbons 18 One Pence carmine-red

(De La Rue printing)

This Example 1 one pence has the classic "carmine-red" color, and hence should be SG 18 (Scott 12 dark carmine). One will note that the Engine Turned Background is somewhat "wooly" - lacks some detail. In fact, the "carmine-red" color DLR stamps often show some wooliness. 

Example 2:1864 Stanley Gibbons 18 One Pence carmine-red

This Example 2 is not quite as red as Example 1, but still falls with the family group of "carmine-red".  The Engine Turned Background is "wooly".

Example 3:1864 Stanley Gibbons 18 One Pence carmine-red

Example 3 is also "carmine-red" and somewhat "wooly". Recall that the "wooly" aspect is thought not to be due to plate wear, but the DLR ink not adhering well to the DLR prepared paper, tending to clump and pool, and obscuring the background pattern.

Example 4: 1864 Stanley Gibbons 18 One Pence carmine-red

Example 4 is a little more difficult to characterize color-wise. In addition, the background (Engine Turned Background) is actually fairly sharp. I don't really see wooliness, as my other SG "carmine-reds" show. But the SG 18 "carmine-red", although often wooly, can be found "sharp". And the color, although browner than the other "carmine-reds", perhaps does not have enough "brownish-red" to make it a SG18c. 

Example 5:Stanley Gibbons 18c  One Pence brownish red

OK, I think Example 5 shows enough "brown-red" tint to qualify as a SG18c 1p "brownish red:. Also, the background (ETB) appears sharp, which is more characteristic of the "brownish-red" tints.

Example 6:Stanley Gibbons 18c  One Pence brownish red

My last example, Example 6, shows even more of a brown tint than Example 5. It clearly has a fiscal bank cancel, which is more common among the DLR issues. It has a quite sharp (not wooly) background, which is not uncommon with both the SG18c "brownish red" and the SG18b "deep red-brown". 

So is this a SG 18c or a SG18b? 

Richard Debney, a COGH triangle expert, opines that it is sometimes difficult to distinguish the two shades. That implies that there is not much difference between the two.

On the other hand, an internet example illustrated for the SG18b "deep red-brown" shows a REALLY dark brown color - a deep chocolate brown.

Chris Dorn of The Stamp Forum calls Example 6 a SG18c "brownish red", and he is probably right. 

Out of the Blue

I hope you found this review of the DLR 1p reds illuminating.

Fortunately the DLR 1p reds, because of their color hue differences compared to PB 1p red issues, are somewhat easy to identify. 

But I still don't have a SG18b "deep red-brown" stamp. Maybe someday. ;-)

Comments appreciated!