This stamp was recolored from blue to gray violet in 1927 for a practical reason — the blue version was being confused with other blue stamps in the sorting process, causing Special Delivery mail to miss its priority routing.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

• Catalog Number: Scott #E15

• Denomination: 10 cents (10¢)

• Date of Issue: May 31, 1927

• Printing Method: Rotary Press, Engraved (Intaglio)

• Perforation: 11 × 10½

• Color: Gray Violet

• Subject: Postal messenger loading mail into a motorcycle sidecar at a post office

CONDITION ANALYSIS (Seller-Assessed)

• Status: Used

• Grading: Extremely Fine

• Postmark: Wavy-line machine postmark present, falling without obscuring the design elements.

• Obverse: Gray violet color remains distinct and well-preserved. Design elements are clear throughout.

• Reverse: Paper is clean and fresh. No gum present, consistent with postal use. No hinge marks.

• Centering / Margins: Excellent, with perforations clear of the design frame on all sides.

• Perforations: Intact on all four sides. No tears, thins, or creases observed.

HISTORY

Special Delivery service was introduced by the U.S. Post Office Department in 1885 as a premium paid option - letters bearing the Special Delivery stamp were hand-delivered immediately upon arrival at the destination post office rather than held for the regular carrier route. The service required dedicated messengers and commanded a higher rate, making Special Delivery stamps a distinct and actively collected category within American philately.

The motorcycle messenger design first appeared in 1922 on Scott #E12, depicted in deep blue. The color proved problematic in practice as postal workers were confusing the blue Special Delivery stamps with other blue definitives during the sorting process, causing Special Delivery mail to lose its priority handling. The Post Office responded by reissuing the same design in gray violet as Scott #E15, released May 31, 1927. The color change was purely operational, not decorative.

The design itself depicts a postal messenger loading mail satchels into a motorcycle sidecar outside a post office - an accurate representation of how Special Delivery actually operated in the 1920s, when motorcycle messengers were a standard feature of urban postal infrastructure. The image captures a specific moment in American postal history before automobiles fully replaced motorcycle delivery.

STEVEN SAYS

They changed the color because sorters were mixing it up with other blue stamps. That's the whole reason this gray violet version exists. The motorcycle messenger image is one of the more honest designs in American philately - that's exactly how Special Delivery worked in 1927.