Gauthier Freres et Cie 1856

 The Compagnie Franco-Americaine was formed in 1856 by Gauthier Freres & Compagnie of Paris and Lyons to operate a fleet of iron screw steamers between Havre and North & South America. 

The company's services proved to be very irregular, ships prone to breakdowns and passengers far fewer than expected. 

One of their ships the Lyonnais sank in 1856 after a collision with the American barque Adriatic, with a loss of 120 lives. 

The company closed in 1857.

These stamps were issued in 1856 both in red and blue for use on mail carried privately by the Gauthier Freres steamship company from Havre, France to New York or Rio de Janeiro, both colored stamps are very rare, as only seven copies of the red stamp are recorded and only two blue stamps known, one being on a cover front

Some of the certified reds have sold in the $3000-$4000 range. A wide range of forgeries exist with some current listings at fairly high values.

A certified copy with the following features;
1. A vermilion stamp with blue monogram “G.F. & C.” hand stamp
2. No border outside the main border. Forgeries all appear to have a thin outside border.
3. Thick smoke touches the frame
4. The background horizontal lines decrease proportionately in width from bottom to top.
5. A dot below the “Cie”. The bottom “i” in “Cie” has no dot above it
6. A dot at the end of the top letters

A certified Blue – sold for $3000 despite the rough shape

Genuine letter

Advertising for the company

Forgeries
The forgeries come in a wide range of colors and the first sign is the thin outside frame and the lack of smoke.
Most are probably typographed Taylor forgeries – Taylor was known for creating forgeries in various colors and paper types. There are at least 10 Bogus issue varieties from Taylor

The colours so far known are:

brown on white paper yellow on white paper bright purple on white paper red on white paper brown on orange paper

blue on white paper brown on chocolate pape r bright purple on yellow paper red on greyish paper black on buff paper

Some samples

-There is no dot after  Americaine

- Very thin outer frame

- Smoke is short horizontal lines