"Lafayette" Collection
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1849-1850 Ceres Issue
40 centimes orange vermillon, both retouched 4's

both varieties of retouched 4's in unused, original gum strip of five, positions 146-150

Provenance:
ex Ferrary  (sale #11, lot 50: 25,000 FF), ex Hind and Rothschild

References:
Ceres #5h, Yvert #5f
illustrated in 2000 Yvert & Tellier Specialisé catalog

Census of unused: 
this strip of five is only reported multiple with errors and normal
one pair with both errors

Production information:
One plate of 150 was used to produce the 40 centimes. Although no clichés were inverted, two 20 centimes clichés were originally inserted at positions 146 and 147. The value tables of these clichés were corrected manually with the four numeral 2’s changed to 4’s before printing but the result is that the numerals are sufficiently different to be quite recognizable. Of the 4.1 million stamps issued, 14 thousand of each retouched stamp were printed. See enlarged scan of value tablet strip with errors at right as well as positions 146 full stamp, position 147 full stamp, and normal stamp position 148 .