| U.S. 20th Century Regular Issues & Commemoratives |
| |
| |
| Lot |
Photo |
Description |
Lot 2091 |
 |
1901 Pan-American set complete (294-299), singles, tied by three strikes of Washington, D.C. oval cancel on cover to Munchen, Germany, purple "Sub Sta. No.3 Wash. D.C. Registered May 1, 1901" c.d.s., New York May 2 transit backstamp and N.Y. registry label affixed, blue German backstamp; minor tone specks affecting a couple stamps, 2¢ with slightly rounded corner, Very Fine, handsome and rare and choice.
Scott $35,000
A PREMIER 20TH CENTURY FIRST DAY COVER AND ONE OF THE MOST ATTRACTIVE EXAMPLES BEARING A COMPLETE SET OF THE PAN-AMERICAN ISSUE.
Expertization: 1982 P.F. Certificate.
There are only fourteen recorded full set Pan-American first day covers, of which only five are to foreign destinations.
View details and enlarged photo
|
Lot 2092 |
 |
1901, 2¢ Pan-American, center inverted (295a), quite well centered, bright pastel colors. Full o.g., relatively lightly hinged. Very Fine.
Scott $42,500
A FRESH CHOICE EXAMPLE OF THIS 20TH CENTURY RARITY.
Expertization: 1965 and 1991 P.F. Certificates.
Provenance: Moody, Lyons
Only about 150 mint examples of this great rarity are believed to have been found and fewer still have survived. Many of these are faulty. This sound and well centered example is one of the finest available.
View details and enlarged photo
|
Lot 2093 |
 |
1901, 4¢ Pan-American, center inverted (296a), exceptionally well centered. Slightly disturbed o.g., hinge remnant. Small repair at right. Extremely Fine appearance.
Scott $35,000
Expertization: 1999 P.F. Certificate.
Provenance: Lyons
The 4¢ Pan-American was produced in a special printing only. Most of the approximately 200 examples believed to exist (including an unknown number with "specimen" overprint) were removed from backing paper and as a result were damaged or at a minimum have disturbed gum. The majority are poorly centered. This example is one of the best centered available.
View details and enlarged photo
|
Lot 2094 |
|
Withdrawn
|
Lot 2095 |
 |
1908, 2¢ carmine coil (322), perfectly centered within huge balanced margins, bright color and paper and full, barely hinged original gum. A truly Superb Gem.
Scott $5,500
AN UNBELIEVABLE MINT SINGLE IN SIMPLY UNHEARD OF QUALITY, ONE OF THE FINEST, IF NOT THE FINEST EXAMPLE OF THIS RARE COIL IN EXISTENCE.
Expertization: 1955 and 2003 P.F. Certificates, plus several signatures.
The 1955 certificate is for a strip of three submitted by the eminent collector, Frank Hollowbush.
View details and enlarged photo
|
Lot 2096 |
 |
1909, 10¢ yellow coil (356), centered with mathematical precision amid beautifully proportioned margins with brilliant color and barely hinged original gum. A Superb gem.
Scott $2,750
WE DOUBT IF A FINER EXAMPLE OF THIS RARE COIL AS EXISTS.
Expertization: 2004 P.F. Certificate.
View details and enlarged photo
|
Lot 2097 |
 |
1909, 10¢ yellow coil (356), pair. Virtually perfectly centered within remarkably wide, beautifully balanced margins. Original gum. Fresh and choice Extremely Fine.
Scott $6,750
AN EXTRAORDINARY PAIR; UNDENIABLY AMONG THE FINEST EXAMPLES EXTANT.
View details and enlarged photo
|
Lot 2098 |
 |
1909, 10¢ yellow coil (356), guide line pair. Quite well centered with brilliant color, crisp and intact perforations and full, lightly hinged original gum. Fresh and choice Very Fine.
Scott $13,000
A TRULY EXCEPTIONAL EXAMPLE OF THIS RARE LINE PAIR WITH NONE OF THE DETRACTIONS (GUM CREASES, PEFORATION SEPARATIONS, INCLUSIONS) THAT ARE SO OFTEN FOUND ON THE ISSUE.
Expertization: 1978 and 2000 P.F. Certificates.
View details and enlarged photo
|
Lot 2099 |
 |
1909, 3¢ deep violet, bluish paper (359), block of four. Nearly perfectly centered with deep color and nicely blued paper. Original gum, lightly hinged. Slight separation, light pencil notation on the back of two stamps. Extremely Fine and choice.
Scott $8,500
AN INCREDIBLE BLOCK—EACH STAMP A GEM.
View details and enlarged photo
|
Lot 2100 |
 |
1909, 13¢ blue green, bluish paper (365), right sheet margin imprint and plate number 4946 strip of three. Original gum, lightly hinged. Tiny thin spot in upper left corner. Otherwise Fine and fresh. Featured in a front page article in the October 18, 2004 issue of Linn’s Stamp News,.
Estimate 10,000 - 15,000
A UNIQUE STRIP — THE FIRST, AND SO FAR ONLY, 13¢ BLUISH PAPER RECORDED WITH THIS PLATE NUMBER.
Expertization: 2004 P.F. Certificate.
The flat plate stamps of the period were printed on a four-station flat bed press that utilized four plates at a time. The United States Stamp Society’s B.I.A. Plate Number Checklist, Plates 1-20,000 indicates that plate numbers 4942, 4945, 4946 and 4948 were used to print the 13¢ bluish paper, but until the discovery of this strip, just last year, only plate numbers 4942, 4945 and 4948 had ever been seen.
View details and enlarged photo
|
Lot 2101 |
 |
o
1909, 15¢ pale ultramarine, bluish paper (366), well centered with wide margins, light face-free oval cancels. Fresh and choice Very Fine.
Scott $11,000
ONLY THREE OF THE EIGHT USED 15¢ BLUISH PAPERS CERTIFIED BY THE PHILATELIC FOUNDATION ARE SOUND — THIS IS THE BEST CENTERED OF THE THREE.
Expertization: 1990 and 2001 P.F. Certificates.
Provenance: Twigg-Smith
The 15¢ value is one of the most difficult of the regularly issued bluish papers to obtain in used condition. Only the 5¢ has fewer used examples known.
View details and enlarged photo
|
Lot 2102 |
 |
1909, 2¢ Lincoln, U.S. Automatic Vending type III, experimental perf. 12 (368), experimental perf 12, guide line pair. O.g., lightly hinged. Fine and rare.
Scott $4,000
ONE OF ONLY TWO RECORDED LINE PAIRS — BOTH WITH SIMILAR CENTERING.
Expertization: P.F. Certificate.
View details and enlarged photo
|
Lot 2103 |
 |
1909, 2¢ Alaska-Yukon (370), with bottom selvage, first day of issue, tied by "Seattle, Wash. Jun 1, 1909" machine cancel on an exposition picture postcard with multi-color view of the manufacturer's building, used locally, trivial postcard corner bend in upper right not affecting stamp, Very Fine and rare.
Scott $4,000
AN ATTRACTIVE AND RARE EXPOSITION CARD WITH INTERESTING CONTENT CONCERNING THE ALASKA-YUKON FAIR.
Message from the fairgrounds reads, "June 1st, 1909, The great A.Y.P.E. appeared today at 8.30, Military parade 9.30, Pres. Wm. Taft officially appeared at 12. Great Crowds…"
View details and enlarged photo
|
Lot 2104 |
 |
1910, 2¢ carmine coil (388), guide line pair. Incredibly well centered with deep color and full lightly hinged original gum. A choice Extremely Fine line pair.
Scott $8,500
A CHOICE GEM PERHAPS THE FINEST EXAMPLE OF THIS RARE LINE PAIR EXTANT.
Expertization: 2001 P.F. Certificate.
From our research, we estimate that at about two-thirds of the existing #388 line pairs are fakes and that the overwhelming majority of the small number of genuine line pairs are off center, weak and/or faulty.
View details and enlarged photo
|
Lot 2105 |
 |
1913, 10¢ orange Panama-Pacific (400A), full top plate number block of six. Exceptionally well centered, crisp and intact perforations. O.g., never hinged. Choice Very Fine.
Scott $18,000
VERY FEW PLATE BLOCKS OF THE 10¢ ORANGE PERF 12 EXIST, THIS OUTSTANDING PLATE BLOCK IS MOST LIKELY THE FINEST AVAILABLE.
Expertization: 1996 P.F. Certificate.
View details and enlarged photo
|
Lot 2106 |
 |
1914, 2¢ carmine, U.S. Automatic Vending type III perfs (459), beautifully centered, bright color and paper. Neat machine flag cancel. A few nibbed perfs and a small faint corner crease are of little consequence. Still Very Fine.
Scott $11,500
THERE ARE ONLY TWO USED SINGLES CERTIFIED BY THE PHILATELIC FOUNDATION, AND THIS BY FAR, IS THE BETTER CENTERED.
Expertization: 1995 P.F. Certificate.
View details and enlarged photo
|
Lot 2107 |
 |
o
1920, 2¢ deep rose, type Ia, imperf (482A), full margins with intact Schermack perforations at left, characteristically intense color and neat wavy line machine cancel. Fresh and Very Fine.
Scott $50,000
AN OUTSTANDING EXAMPLE OF THIS TWENTIETH CENTURY RARITY.
Expertization: 1978, 1985 and 2004 P.F. certificates.
Provenance: Hewitt
The imperforate 2¢ type Ia was printed specifically to fill an order by the Schermack Company, who then applied their distinctive oblong perforations to the entire supply. Due to the inexact placement of the perforations and to the way the stamps were vended by Schermack’s poorly calibrated "Stamper and Sealer" machines, most had their perforations and/or margins cut off on one side or the other. Because the existence of the new type Ia was not public knowledge at the time, none made it into the hands of contemporary collectors, thus accounting for their great rarity today. Very few of the forty or so certified stamps are sound and as well centered as the example offered here.
View details and enlarged photo
|
Lot 2108 |
 |
1917, 5¢ carmine error, imperf (485), the double error in a block of twelve, large balanced margins and full never hinged original gum. Fresh and Extremely Fine.
Scott $52,500
A LOVELY FRESH OF THIS 20TH CENTURY RARITY.
George Sloane reported, in a September, 1942 Sloane's Column, that 48 uncut sheets of 400 of the imperforate 2¢ type I, Scott #482, printed from plate number 7942 were sold to a single buyer by a large New York City branch post office. These these are likely the only such sheets sold, though it is commonly believed that there were 50 sheets "issued" (according to Sloane several hundred more sheets were found in Chicago, but were returned to Washington for destruction). Each sheet would have contained a double error in the upper left pane and a single error in the lower right pane, meaning only 48 blocks such as the one offered here were ever possible, and some of these have been cut up.
View details and enlarged photo
|
Lot 2109 |
 |
1916, 2¢ carmine, type II, coil (491), pair. Well centered with bright color, original gum, lightly hinged. Fresh and Very Fine.
Scott $5,250
AN EXCEPTIONALLY FRESH EXAMPLE OF THIS RARE COIL PAIR.
Expertization: 1967 and 1992 P.F. Certificates.
The 2¢ type II horizontal coil on unwatermarked paper was in production for only a few months before it was replaced with the type III design.
View details and enlarged photo
|
Lot 2110 |
 |
1916, 2¢ carmine, type II, coil (491), joint line pair. Nearly perfectly centered with brilliant color. Original gum, never hinged. Extremely Fine and choice.
Scott $22,500
A GEM EXAMPLE OF THIS EXCEEDINGLY RARE LINE PAIR.
Expertization: 2004 P.F. Certificate.
View details and enlarged photo
|
Lot 2111 |
 |
o
1918, 2¢ carmine, Offset imperf, type VII (534B), vertical pair with enormous margins including full top sheet margin, neat Nov 9, 1921 Chicago machine cancel. Fresh and Extremely Fine.
Scott $3,250
A PHENOMENAL PAIR THAT IS QUITE LIKELY THE FINEST EXTANT AND THAT WOULD BE THE HIGHLIGHT OF ANY COLLECTION OF USED 1918-20 OFFSET ISSUES.
Expertization: 2002 P.F. Certificate.
View details and enlarged photo
|
Lot 2112 |
 |
1923, $1 violet black (571), tied on registered cover by "Springfield, Ill. Feb 12, 1923" machine cancel and accompanied by the original registry receipt, blue Ray Bahr corner card and addressed to Harry Truby. Opened at left. Very Fine and very rare cover as only seventeen were serviced in Springfield.
Scott $6,500
A GEM FIRST DAY COVER, ESPECIALLY SO WITH A MACHINE CANCEL.
View details and enlarged photo
|
Lot 2113 |
 |
1923, $1 violet black (571), tied by "Washington, D.C. Feb 12, 1923" duplex cancel on small special delivery First Day cover, neat manuscript address, fresh paper. Very Fine. A rare and most attractive First Day cover.
Scott $7,000
View details and enlarged photo
|
Lot 2114 |
 |
1923, $5 carmine & blue (573), full sheet of 100 with blue plate #F14326 and red plate #F14327, four arrows, siderographer’s and plate finisher’s initials, well centered and bright with solid perforations throughout, only minimal gum bends, and absolutely no gum skips. A choice Very Fine to Extremely Fine sheet.
Scott $23,325 ++
A SPECTACULAR SHEET — POSSIBLE THE FINEST IN OVERALL QUALITY OF THE FEW REMAINING INTACT SHEETS.
The siderographer was Joseph L. Heffern (J.L.H.). The plate finishers were Joseph P. Lennon (J.P.L.) and Walter E. Spring (W.E.S.).
View details and enlarged photo
|
Lot 2115 |
 |
o
1923, 1¢ green, rotary coil waste (594), horizontal pair. Tied on piece by neat "Madison Sq, Sta. N.Y. 2, Oct 4 1924" slogan cancel. Typical centering, small surface scrape right stamp, and right edge scissor trimmed. Fine and exceedingly rare. Scott's value is for an example "with perforations just touching frame line on one side".
Scott $14,500
AN OUTSTANDING MULTIPLE OF THIS KEY 20TH CENTURY VARIETY.
Expertization: 1993 P.F. Certificate.
Only about 100 examples are recorded of the 1¢ perf. 11 made from rotary press coil waste. These particular examples come from the "Fairbanks" find of 1934 which consisted of nine covers, each franked with a pair, that had been returned by the post office from a bulk mailing done ten tears earlier. All of the Fairbanks covers were cut down to pieces.
View details and enlarged photo
|
Lot 2116 |
 |
o
1923, 2¢ Harding, rotary, the perf. 11 sheet waste (613), actually well centered with wide, balanced margins on three sides, just clear at the right, light slogan cancel. Fresh and Fine.
Scott $42,500
AN IMPRESSIVE EXAMPLE OF THIS IMPORTANT TWENTIETH CENTURY RARITY.
Expertization: 2002 P.F. Certificate.
No definitive answer as to why the "sheet waste" stamps, Scott #596 and 613, were produced. One theory, put forward by Gary Griffith in his United States Stamps, 1922-26, is that rotary press sheets of 400 were cut into panes of 100 and perforated on the perf. 11 machines that had been used for the flat plate stamps. This may have been done to salvage sheet waste, just as it was for the small coil waste sheets of 170, or it may have been done to replace damaged panes of #610 in post office decks of 100.
View details and enlarged photo
|
Lot 2117 |
 |
1979, $1 Lamp, brown (candle flame) inverted (1610c), perfectly centered. O.g., never hinged. Superb. Only 95 issued.
Scott $20,000
A FLAWLESS EXAMPLE OF THE FAMED "CIA INVERT".
A pane of 100 stamps was purchased by the C.I.A. for use on agency mail. When the employee making the purchase discovered the error he and a few fellow employees pooled their money to buy a replacement pane for the agency and took the error pane for themselves. Reportedly, each kept a single copy and the balance was sold to a stamp dealer. The source of the error eventually became public setting off a series of inquiries and threats. The C.I.A. attempted to claim ownership and employees who refused to surrender their stamps were dismissed, while at the same time postal inspectors tried to retrieve the rest of the pane from the dealer. It was subsequently determined that the dealer had legal ownership since the original purchase was made over the counter at a post office.
Currently 95 of the original 100 examples can be accounted for. The balance were presumably used on mail and none have been recovered.
View details and enlarged photo
|
Lot 2118 |
 |
1979, $1 Lamp, brown (candle flame) inverted (1610c), a choice mint block of four. Perfectly centered. Original gum, never hinged. Superb. Only 95 issued.
Scott $80,000+
ONLY A HANDFUL OF BLOCKS REMAIN INTACT.
View details and enlarged photo
|
Lot 2119 |
 |
1979, 15¢ Toleware, imperf horizontally (1778b), se-tenant plate number block of eight. Original gum, never hinged. Tiny thin third stamp in top row and minor wrinkes in lower right selvage. Otherwise Very Fine (left block sound).
Scott $8,500 ++
THE UNIQUE PLATE BLOCK FROM THE ONLY PANE OF 40 KNOWN.
View details and enlarged photo
|
Lot 2120 |
 |
1989, $2.40 Moon Landing error (2419 var.), background gray instead of blue. Original gum, never hinged. Extremely Fine (see Scott footnote after #2419).
Estimate 3,000 - 4,000
ONE OF ONLY 12 SOUND EXAMPLES OF THIS STRIKING VARIETY THAT ARE KNOWN.
Expertization: 2003 P.F. Certificate for a pair.
This error occured when a chemical used to wipe the blue plate contaminated the normal blue ink.
View details and enlarged photo
|
|
