Reunion 1852 15c (Local First Issue)

Paris sent the wrong stamps

In the summer of 1851, two postal directives from Paris reached the officials of Saint-Denis, the capital of the French colony of Ile de la Reunion. They were not well received. A ministerial circular of June 13, 1851, had sent the colony French stamps in values of 10 centimes, 25 centimes and 1 franc, but the island's local postal rates called for 15 and 30 centimes.

The governor of Reunion answered with a local decree creating the island's own stamps. The result was two values, 15 centimes and 30 centimes, matching the local rates. Wikipedia dates the first stamps to January 1, 1852; a study of forgeries gives their validity as running from December 10, 1851, to December 31, 1859.

A remote and prosperous island

Reunion is a volcanic island in the Indian Ocean, about 110 miles southwest of Mauritius and 420 miles east of Madagascar. It was uninhabited until the French landed in 1638, was first called Mascarin, and was claimed by France in 1649 and named Ile de Bourbon after the ruling dynasty.

By 1851 it was prosperous from sugarcane and spices, with a population of more than 121,000, fine buildings in Saint-Denis and at least eight newspapers. France itself was in upheaval: Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte issued a new constitution in January 1852 and became Emperor Napoleon III that December.

Stamps set in type

Catalogues credit the design to Gabriel La Huppe. The stamps were typeset, not engraved, and printed by typography in black ink on thin, slightly glossy bluish paper. The stamps are inscribed 'Ile de la Reunion.'

Each value exists in four types, told apart by small differences such as the half-moon shapes inside the corner circles. There was no gum. Users stuck the stamps on with fish glue or gum arabic. The usual cancellation was a stroke of the pen, and some stamps left uncanceled at the office of origin were canceled at their destination.

The printing was 7,500 of each value. Very few were used. Sales of the two values together came to only 8 francs; the Saint-Denis office alone sold 8 francs' worth according to one account. The stamps were withdrawn on January 1, 1860, and the unsold stock was destroyed.

Originals, reprints and fakes

In 1866 the stamps were reprinted, and the reprints are far more common than the originals. They can be told apart by the frame lines. One study describes the originals' borders as double parallel lines and the reprints' as single lines; another describes the reprints as having one thick and one thin frame line instead of one thick and two thin. Reprints also show a poorer impression and different paper.

Forgeries also exist, and the four genuine types give experts a way to check a stamp. The originals are in the $20,000-plus range in catalogue terms, while reprints are worth much less.

Unused originals are rare. According to the auction house that sold the Markowitz collection, only a tiny number of unused examples exist, and most have faults.

The finest known

The most celebrated copy of the 15 centimes was offered in New York on January 22, 2015, in the David B. Markowitz collection of France and French colonies. It was called the finest of all surviving examples of Reunion's first issue, with huge margins, and it is the only recorded example with a sheet margin at the right and the only one with a full sheet margin at the bottom.

The auction house said no other example of the first issue came close to its physical qualities. Before the sale, the stamp, and a 30 centimes from the same issue, were each valued at $39,000 in catalogue terms; the realized price was not reported in the sources consulted.

In Europe, French auction results quoted in euros give a sense of the issue's standing: one recent account cites 18,000 euros for a 15 centimes of the fourth type and 38,500 euros for a 30 centimes of the fourth type.

The first colonial stamp

Reunion's improvised stamps are a cornerstone of French colonial collecting, made rare by the tiny number sold and the destruction of the rest.

Their story, of a remote island that made its own stamps when Paris sent the wrong values, is a reminder of how early postal reform played out far from the capitals that ordered it.

The numbers

Issue date

1852 (January 1 per Wikipedia; validity from December 10, 1851 per one study)

Values

15 centimes and 30 centimes, black on bluish

Printing

Typography from typeset designs, Saint-Denis

Paper

Thin bluish paper, slightly glossy, unwatermarked

Perforation

Imperforate

Gum

None

Types

Four of each value

Quantity

7,500 of each value printed; 8 francs' worth sold

Withdrawn

Valid to December 31, 1859; stock destroyed 1860

Reprints

1866, different frame lines and paper

Timeline

1. 1638

   The French land on the uninhabited island, later called Mascarin.

2. 1649

   France claims the island and names it Ile de Bourbon.

3. Jun 13, 1851

   A ministerial circular sends French 10c, 25c and 1 franc stamps, values that do not fit local rates.

4. Dec 10, 1851

   Start of validity of the local stamps, according to one study.

5. Jan 1, 1852

   Reunion's first stamps, 15c and 30c, are issued, according to Wikipedia.

6. Dec 31, 1859

   Last day of validity of the first issue.

7. 1860

   The stamps are withdrawn and the unsold stock destroyed; only 8 francs' worth had been sold.

8. 1866

   The two stamps are reprinted, with different frame lines and paper.

9. Jan 22, 2015

   The finest known 15 centimes is offered in the Markowitz collection in New York.

The world in 1852

• Jan 14, 1852

  Louis-Napoleon proclaims a new constitution for the French Second Republic.

• Feb 25, 1852

  HMS Birkenhead sinks near Cape Town; only 193 of 643 aboard survive.

• Mar 18, 1852

  Henry Wells and William Fargo found Wells Fargo & Company.

• Mar 20, 1852

  'Uncle Tom's Cabin' is published in book form in Boston.

• Sep 24, 1852

  Henri Giffard makes the first airship flight, from Paris to Trappes.

• Dec 2, 1852

  Louis-Napoleon becomes Emperor Napoleon III.

Price record

A price-guide value is an editorial estimate, not a transaction and not an asking price. Guides lag the market and smooth over grade and condition. It is neither a floor nor a ceiling: a sale can land above or below it, and it should be checked against a realized sale before anything rests on it.

By reference price, Reunion 1852 15c (Local First Issue) is number 58 of 100 in the stamps entries of the FLOAT 100. 82 of those 100 rest on a realized sale; the rest carry an asking price or a guide value, and each page says which. Rank within the FLOAT 100 itself (80 here) is editorial: how much an object defines its field, not price alone.

Did you know

• Paris sent Reunion 10c, 25c and 1 franc stamps, but the island needed 15c and 30c values, so it made its own.
• The stamps were typeset rather than engraved.
• Of 7,500 copies printed of each value, only 8 francs' worth of the two values combined was ever sold.
• The stamps had no gum; people stuck them on with fish glue or gum arabic.
• The usual cancellation was a simple pen stroke.
• The finest known 15 centimes is the only recorded copy with sheet margin at the right and a full sheet margin at the bottom.