Sale 268

United States Stamps and Postal History


U.S. Stamps - Airmail and Special Delivery
 
 
Lot Photo Description
Lot 1314

Airmail, 1918, 24¢ carmine rose & blue (C3), top margin arrow, double "TOP" plate nos. 8493, 8492 block of 12. Fresh and intact, light natural paper wrinkle and light pre-printing crease in two, couple natural gum skips and a bit streaky gum as usual. O.g., never hinged. F.-V.F.
Scott $2,000
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Lot 1315

Airmail, 1918, 24¢ carmine rose & blue, center inverted (C3a), position 34, beautifully well centered, fresh rich colors, o.g., hinge remnant, minor small thin spot. Extremely Fine appearance, one of the widest margined and best centered examples of this famous invert.
Scott $170,000

Expertization: 1978 (photocopy) and 2003 P.F. Certificates.

The story behind the "Inverted Jenny" is certainly one of the most well-known and fascinating in all of stamp collecting. It began with the somewhat hurried decision, in early 1918 (with the First World War still in progress), to issue a set of three postage stamps for the first official U.S. airmail flight, then scheduled for May 1918. Production time was extremely limited. Moreover the high value of the set, the 24¢ value, was to be issued in two colors (red and blue), with one color to be printed first, and the printed sheets then reinserted in the printing presses for the second color. Despite all efforts to catch any printing errors, one sheet of 100 stamps, printed with the second color (the "Jenny" in the center of the stamp), upside down, managed to escape detection.

This error sheet was sold to Mr. William T. Robey, a stamp collector living in Washington, D.C. He normally bought a full sheet of each new postage stamp as it was issued, for his collection, and it was therefore natural for him to try to acquire a sheet of the new airmail stamps. Robey could barely contain his excitement when the postal clerk (not suspecting or noticing the error) brought out the sheet for him. Robey bought the sheet (this was during his lunch hour) and returned to his job as a stockbroker's clerk, where he told a few friends about his amazing find. They in turn tried to buy more of those stamps "with the upside down airplane". A few hours later postal inspectors were asking Robey to sell the sheet back to them. Robey naturally refused. The next day on May 15, 1918 Robey wrote to the famous dealer Elliot Perry saying "I have secured a sheet of 100 with inverted centers". (the letter was sold in our Sale 201, June 1997)

In the end, though he did not sell it to Perry, but to a well-known dealer Eugene Klein, who sold the sheet to Col. Edward Green. The sheet was then broken up into singles and blocks.

The present single is one of few that is fresh and well centered. With so many of these stamps having distractions-- 19 are straight edged, many are off centered, quite a few have disturbed gum or lost the gum entirely, some have more severe faults, and seven are apparently lost-- the stamp offered here is clearly among the most attractive and desirable.

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Lot 1316
P
Airmail, 1930 Graf Zeppelin set complete, large die proofs (C13P1-C15P1), die sunk on 150 x 120 mm cards, some minor light tone spots, none affecting designs, Very Fine and rare set.
Scott $45,000
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Lot 1317

Airmail, 1930 Graf Zeppelin set complete (C13-C15), full bottom margin plate no. blocks of 6. Choice centering throughout, fresh and intact, o.g., never hinged, 65¢and $1.30 light natural gum bends and creases. $2.60 trivial tiny corner selvage crease. Very Fine to Extremely Fine, an outstanding well matched set.
Scott $22,100

Expertization: 2003 P.S.E. Certificate.

Provenance: Floyd
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Lot 1318

Special Delivery, 1893, 10¢ orange (E3), choice centering with exceptionally wide margins, deep golden color. O.g., never hinged. Extremely Fine.
Scott $475

Expertization: 2002 P.F. Certificate.
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Lot 1319

Special Delivery, 1894, 10¢ blue, unwatermarked (E4), bottom margin part imprint single. Particularly fresh with deep color and a fine impression. O.g., lightly hinged. Couple thin specks in the selvage, stamp is. Extremely Fine.
Scott $800

Expertization: 1981 P.F. Certificate.

Provenance: Floyd
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Lot 1320

Special Delivery, 1894, 10¢ blue, unwatermarked (E4), strong color and impression. O.g. Very Fine.
Scott $800
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Lot 1321

Special Delivery, 1895, 10¢ blue (E5), top sheet margin single with part-imprint, virtually perfectly centered with incredibly deep color. O.g., never hinged. Extremely Fine and choice. A fabulous gem.
Scott $175

Expertization: 2003 P.F. Certificate.
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Lot 1322

Special Delivery, 1902, 10¢ ultramarine (E6), bottom margin imprint and plate no. 5240-09 block of 6. Rich color, strong and intact perforations. O.g., hinged on selvage only. Light hinge thin in selvage. Otherwise Fine.
Scott $2,100
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Lot 1323

Special Delivery, 1914, 10¢ ultramarine (E9), top sheet margin single. O.g., never hinged, natural vertical gum skip. Extremely Fine and eye catching.
Scott $375

Expertization: 1980 P.F. Certificate.

Provenance: Floyd
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Lot 1324

Registry, 1911, 10¢ ultramarine (F1), full top margin imprint, letter "A" and plate no. 5726 block of 6. Remarkably well centered, crisp and fully intact perforations, strong color and impression on bright fresh paper. O.g., never hinged. Extremely Fine.
Scott $2,500

AN EXCEEDINGLY DIFFICULT PLATE BLOCK TO LOCATE BOTH WELL CENTERED AND NEVER HINGED. THIS EXAMPLE IS ONE OF THE FINEST FULL TOP PLATE BLOCKS EXTANT.

Expertization: 2003 P.S.E. Certificate.

Provenance: Floyd
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