5-cent blue Jefferson Davis - "Local Print"
(Scott CSA #7)

The central motif for the 5-cent "Local" or "Richmond" print is a portrait of Jefferson Davis, designed and engraved by Jean Ferdinand Joubert De La Ferte for De La Rue. There were 36,250,000 stamps printed from one four-subject electrotype plate, panes of one hundred. Plating is unnecessary as complete panes still remain. These imperforate stamps were originally printed on thin, white, woven, hard-surface paper with colorless gum (as supplied by De La Rue on the same printing plate as the "London Print"). Later productions were on inferior paper, using ink procured in Richmond. The color ranges across all shades of blue. Although printed from the same plate, they can generally be distinguished by the coarse, fuzzy impression and / or the presence of plate flaws. There are a few collectible varieties such as the poplar "White Tie" and filled in margins of the margin edges.

Early local prints can sometimes be difficult to distinguish from the London Prints, especially when used on De La Rue (London) paper. The earliest recorded date of use is July 13, 1862. This has changed several times in the last few years, with consistently earlier dates. The most typical use is of pairs paying the 10-cent letter rate after July 1, 1862.

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