NEWFOUNDLAND 40 1879 5c BLUE SEAL ABNC ROULETTE 8 WITH RE-ENTRY PP96 USED
Five cent, blue, Ringed Seal stamp from the roulette perforation issue of 1876-79 using plates from the First Cents issue, engraved, no watermark, rouletted 8 perforations. Printed in 1876 by the American Bank Note Company of New York on crisp, thin translucent Pelure paper. Re-entry from plate position 36 - as per information contained in The Re-entry Listings webside (https://re-entries.com/listings.html) maintained by Ralph E. Trimble. Used with contemporary cork hand-held obliterator cancel. Shallow thin at upper right mentioned for the record.
Joseph Pease, the artist that engraved this design apparently used the image of a Ringed Seal (faint body rings and forward pointing "paws" with claws) which is found in the Arctic and Labrador but not the island of Newfoundland. Since the image didn't look like the common Harp Seal (no body rings and clawless flippers pointing backwards) familiar to most Newfoundlanders it was thought to have been drawn in error. The Ringed Seal image was again used in the 5c rouletted issue stamp of 1876 but due to continued public displeasure, the design was redrawn with flippers pointing backward to more closely resemble the familiar Harp Seal for the 5c blue seal stamps produced by the British American Bank Note company in 1880-1898.