Three Enduring Mysteries of the Cape of Good Hope Triangular Issues, 1853-64: Mystery #1

A very fine reference example of an unused COGH, SG5 (Sc3b) 1-Penny Brick Red 

on Cream-Toned Paper (Figure 2)

Into the Deep Blue

By Christopher K. Dorn, aka “The Beryllium Guy”

Foreword

I first met Jim and his Big Blue blog through The Stamp Forum website when I joined that group in Nov-2016.  By 2020, I had become a dedicated student of the line-engraved Cape of Good Hope (COGH) Triangular Issues, and Jim and I bonded over an in-depth online discussion about the stamps in his and my collections.

With inspiration and help from Jim, I published my first article about Cape Triangles in Sep-2022 in the Cape & Natal Philatelic Journal [1].  Around that same time, Jim invited me to write something for the Big Blue blog about Cape Triangles.  It would be fair to say that “life got in the way” in the interim, but now in Nov-2024, I have come back, at long last, to take Jim up on his invitation.

Introduction

Much has been written about the iconic nature of the Cape Triangles, which has led to a level of popularity of these stamps among collectors that began with the hobby itself and continues to grow to the present day.  Thanks to the many variations in color shades, print clarity, paper condition, etc., the Cape Triangles constitute a rich area of philately with unplumbed depths, yet to be fully explored, even after more than 170 years since their arrival.

The intent of these blog posts is to discuss three unsolved mysteries about these stamps, which are still confounding collectors, specialists, and perhaps even expertizers to this day.  Without further ado, let’s start digging into the mysteries!

Background on References for Cape Triangles

Like many other collectors, I generally rely on published catalogues to determine what I need to acquire to fill a collection in a particular area.  For most countries, I use Scott (Sc) Catalogues [2], but for Cape of Good Hope, I prefer the Stanley Gibbons (SG) Catalogue [3], as SG lists more color-shade varieties for COGH than does Scott

Figure 1:  Dust jacket images for two of the main traditional hard-copy references on

Cape of Good Hope Triangular Stamps

For the Triangular Issues, I also use a specialized reference written by D. Alan Stevenson [4].  His book earned him a major award nearly 75 years ago when it was published.  Although some information in it has clearly become outdated, it is still a useful resource today.  It remains the most complete specialized reference for Cape Triangles ever written.

In addition, I am aware that some experts in the field still refer to an auction catalogue from the sale of the largest collection of Cape Triangles ever amassed.  Specifically, that was attributed to one Sir Maxwell Joseph [5], whose collection was auctioned in 1982.  The catalogue was a state-of-the-art publication in its day, but by current digital image standards, it is probably less important than it once was.  That said, the simple fact that certain Cape Triangles either were or were not represented in the Maxwell Joseph Collection still seems a useful datapoint on some level, in my opinion.

Mystery #1: The Case of the 1-Penny Brick Red on Cream-Toned Paper, 1857

At this point, you may be asking yourself, “What’s so mysterious about a stamp that is listed in both the SG and Scott Catalogues?”  When a stamp is listed in a major catalogue, we as collectors generally presume that the creators of the publication have evidence of its existence.  But what about a stamp with a major catalogue number, listed in the preeminent reference for that country (SG, in this case) for many years, about which more than one expert in the field claims never to have seen a representative copy?  Well, that’s exactly what we have with the 1857 COGH 1-Penny (1d) Brick Red on Cream-Toned Paper.

Figure 2:  A very fine reference example of an unused COGH, SG5 (Sc3b) 1-Penny Brick Red on Cream-Toned Paper, i.e., non-blued, issued in 1857.  Image source: Imperium Stamps Ltd. [6].

This stamp is currently listed as SG5 and Sc3b (although described as on White Paper in Scott).  In principle, this stamp is a transitional issue, between the first 1d Cape Triangles, which were on blued paper, and those which came later, which were not.  It is worth noting that the bluing of the paper in those first issues, SG1-4 (Sc1-2), was an unintended consequence of a chemical reaction between the paper and an ingredient in the ink during the printing process [4].

Without going into the technical aspects of why the bluing occurred, it is clear that the printers, Perkins Bacon (PB), spent considerable time and effort reformulating the ink to stop this from happening [7].  It is important to recognize that according to PB’s records, the paper used for the line-engraved Cape Triangles was from the same source and production process throughout the entire run [4].

This means that the paper never changed from SG1-4 (Sc1-2), which were blued, to SG5 (Sc3b), which are cream-toned or white. The fact that the stamps no longer exhibited any bluing was thanks to changes in the composition of the ink and/or the printing process.  The problem that arises is that Stevenson casts some doubt on the existence of a 1d Brick Red (he calls it brown-red) stamp on non-blued paper by referring to it only as “possible,” while explaining that in general, paper was still becoming blued to some extent on other British issues printed by PB all the way until 1879 [4].

It is widely known that the bluing effect can manifest itself in any degree of intensity, from very deep in color to extremely faint, so much so in the latter end of this range that it may be visually unrecognizable as being blued.  It is this situation that then begs the question, “How can one tell the difference between a stamp with extremely faint bluing and one without any at all?”

Figure 3:  Three 1d stamps from my collection, showing different intensities of the bluing effect, from most to least, from left to right.  Left: SG1 (Sc1a) on Deeply Blued Paper.  Middle: An SG3a (Sc1 or 1f) with moderate bluing; I decided it wasn’t enough to qualify as Deeply Blued.  Right: An SG3 (Sc1) with very faint bluing, which is often very difficult to see, depending on the light in which it is being viewed.  This same stamp also appears in Fig. 4 below.

My first readily available response in this case is to use side-by-side comparison.  This method is not foolproof, as in all things related to color perception, but it can certainly be indicative if one follows a logical approach.  Fortunately, I have been able to acquire some stamps to help in making such a comparison.

Figure 4:  Three stamps from my collection, which hopefully make a point.  Left: An SG3 (Sc1) with very slightly blued paper.  In this case, the scan shows the bluing effect more readily than when seen by the unaided eye, especially under artificial light.  Middle: The stamp that I am suggesting could be a genuine SG5 (Sc3b).  Right: A used copy of SG5a (Sc3), known to be on so-called “White Paper.”  The 1d Rose color shades are relatively common as Cape Triangles go and certainly much more so than Brick Red on Cream-Toned Paper.

It should be noted that the back of the stamp on the right above looks remarkably similar to the back of the middle example, lending weight to my opinion that it fits the description of an SG5 (Sc3b).  In his book, Stevenson notes that for Cape Triangles, White Paper is only white in that it is not blued, meaning that many color shades and tones are possible in paper that has not become blued.  I think that idea applies here, too, where the main point is the absence of bluing, rather than the exact color shade of the paper, whether it can be described as cream-toned or white or some other nuance.

So, Does COGH SG5 (Sc3b) Really Exist?

We can summarize our findings as follows:

Arguments For:

·       Both SG and Scott have listed this stamp in their catalogues for many years.  Yes, it could be something as simple as a mistake, but I like to think that would have been caught by now.

·       It is possible to find examples that appear to match the catalogue description.  Such examples are not common, but they do exist.

·       Side-by-side comparison from my own collection appears to confirm the stamp’s existence.

·       Internationally recognized philatelist Joseph Hackmey has some 36 examples of this stamp in his collection, most as multiples, documented in the Museum of Philately [8].

Arguments Against:

·       In his seminal work, Stevenson wrote only that the existence of the stamp is “possible” and does not offer any examples.  Strict disciples of Stevenson would see this as a negative.

·       There were no examples of this stamp in the collections of Sir Maxwell Joseph or Louise Dale & Alfred Lichtenstein, both of which were noteworthy in the field [5][9].

·       Professional philatelists and leading Cape Triangle specialists have said that they have never seen a genuine example of this stamp, stating that claimed examples have always turned out to have been on blued paper with the bluing washed out [10].

·       It is very difficult to see extremely faint bluing on these stamps, which can make it very challenging to ascertain the difference between cream-toned or other non-blued paper versus extremely faint blued paper.  This difficulty is potentially compounded for stamps that have been tampered with in attempts to remove or diminish the bluing.

Conclusion

On one hand, as I have a stamp in my collection that I think has a chance of being a genuine COGH SG5 (Sc3b), I certainly have reason to hope that the stamp exists, despite some notable claims to the contrary.  In addition to my example, there are others better than mine, such as the one in Figure 2, from a highly reputable UK dealer, and also a whopping 36 copies in the Hackmey collection alone.  In nearly five years of searching online auctions, I have seen perhaps 2-3 credible-looking examples on offer, which I think supports the idea that the stamp exists, but it is certainly not common.

On the other hand, the issue of telling the difference between a 1d Brick Red on very faintly blued paper, SG3 or 3a (Sc1 or 1f), versus cream-toned or otherwise non-blued paper, SG5 (Sc3b) is a real one.  When it comes to color determination, there are many factors that can influence the results.  It may be that the only way to know for sure will be to use a type of chemical analysis that can confirm the ingredients in the ink as having come from the era when the paper became blued versus when it did not.  This should be possible, since the key ingredient that caused the bluing effect is known, so it should be able to be detected and its presence confirmed by analytical means.

But until that day comes, the mystery remains….  Happy hunting!

References & Credits

[1]      Dorn, Christopher.  “Cape of Good Hope Triangles: The 4-Pence Blue De La Rue Issues, 1863-1864.”  Cape & Natal Philatelic Journal (CNPJ), Vol. 26, No. 3 (103), September 2022.  Website: Cape and Natal Study Circle (capenatalstamps.com)

[2]      Stevenson, D. Alan.  The Triangular Stamps of Cape of Good Hope.  H.R. Harmer Ltd., London, 1950.

[3]      Bigalke, Jay (Editor-in-Chief).  Scott 2021 Classic Specialized Catalogue, 27th Edition, Stamps and Covers of the World including U.S. 1840-1940 (British Commonwealth to 1952).  Amos Media Inc., Sidney, Ohio, U.S.A., Nov-2020.

[4]      Jefferies, Hugh (Editor).  Stanley Gibbons Stamp Catalogue: Commonwealth & British Empire Stamps 1840-1970, 124th Edition 2022.  Stanley Gibbons Ltd., London and Ringwood, 2021.

[5]      Postage Stamps of the Cape of Good Hope: The Collection formed by Sir Maxwell Joseph including Postal History from 1652 and 1900 Siege of Mafeking.  Sotheby’s, London, 1982.

[6]      Imperium Stamps Ltd.  Website accessed on 17-Nov-2024.  Image link: https://imperiumstamps.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/cm/data/21397.jpg

[7]      Granzow, Gary W.  Line Engraved Security Printing: the Methods of Perkins Bacon 1790-1935, Banknotes and Postage Stamps.  Royal Philatelic Society London, 2012.

[8]      Hackmey, Joseph D.  CAPE OF GOOD HOPE: The Triangular Stamps of the Cape of Good Hope.  Museum of Philately: https://www.museumofphilately.com/collection/102/30, accessed on 16-Nov-2024.  Pages 30-37 of 161 feature the 1-Penny Brick Red on Cream-Toned Paper.

[9]      The Louise Boyd Dale and Alfred F. Lichtenstein Collections - Sale Thirteen - Cape of Good Hope.  Harmers of New York Inc., New York, 1989.

[10]    Debney, Richard.  Cape of Good Hope, 1853-1864 (6-frame exhibit).  Stockholmia International Stamp Exhibition, Stockholm, 2019; accessed on 01-Sep-2022.  Link to exhibit content:  https://www.stampboards.com/viewtopic.php?t=92215

Out of the Blue

Jim's Comment

I am very grateful to Chris Dorn for this seminal post on the Cape Triangles. We can look forward to several more mysteries. !

If the reader would like an introduction to the  Cape Triangles, see Big Blue's Cape Triangles posts here and here.

I would also strongly suggest joining The Stamp Forum and reviewing the extensive thread on the Cape Triangles. That is where Chris Dorn can be found!

Comments appreciated!