Red Mercury (newspaper stamp)

The Red Mercury—Zinnoberrote Merkur, lit. "vermilion Mercury"—is the rarest of Austrian newspaper stamps. It was issued for the mailing of newspapers in Austria and Lombardy-Venetia.[1]

For other uses, see red mercury (disambiguation).

Red Mercury
Country of productionAustria
Date of production1856 (1856)
Nature of rarityFew exist
No. in existenceunknown
Face value6kr – 30 centesimi
Estimated valueUS $40,000

History

Austria's newspaper stamps first appeared in 1851. They depicted a profile of Mercury, the Roman messenger god, and were not denominated, the color of the stamp indicating the value. Blue indicated the 6/10 kreuzer rate for one newspaper, yellow for ten newspapers (6 kr), and rose for 50 newspapers (30 kr). The higher denominations franked wrappers of bundles of newspapers and were frequently discarded.[2]

In 1856 a red, or scarlet, stamp with the Mercury design, sold for six kreuzer - 30 centesimi to frank a bundle of 10 newspapers, was issued. However, it was soon superseded by a new design depicting Franz Joseph which came out in 1858, and only a few copies have survived.[2]

Valuations

An unused copy, without gum and short at the left side, was auctioned for 23,000 DM by Grobe & Lange in 1996.[3] Recent auctions have valued it at about US$40,000. The 2005 Yvert catalog values it at €60,000 (75,000 if used).

On 7 February 2008 an unused copy was auctioned in Vienna for 26,000 euros.[4]

An unused Red Mercury with original gum was auctioned for a hammer price of €40,000 plus commission, by Auktionhaus Felzmann in Düsseldorf on 5 November 2015.[5]

References and sources
References
  1. Österreich 1850-1918, Spezialkatalog und Handbuch, von Dr. Ulrich FERCHENBAUER, Wien 1981, p.107
  2. L.N. Williams (1993). Encyclopedia of Rare and Famous Stamps, Volume 1. The Stories. Geneva: David Feldman SA. pp. 1, 2. ISBN 0-89192-435-3. Archived from the original on 16 March 2014.
  3. Grobe & Lange, Hannover, Lot 8192
  4. Prices Realized 149. Auktion 8. Februar 2008 Archived 16 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  5. "The red Mercury goes under the hammer". Auktionshaus Ulrich Felzmann GmbH & Co. KG. 11 November 2015. Retrieved 18 December 2015.
Sources
  • Philatelic Gems 1 (Linn's, 1989)
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