Lot 1533
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Airmail, 1918, 24¢ carmine rose & blue, center inverted (C3a), pos. 30, unused, deep rich color on bright paper, natural straight edge at right. Possible thin speck, barest trace of a tiny crease, probably a paper wrinkle. Fine. A fresh and most attractive example of arguably the most sought after stamp in U.S. philately.
Scott $170,000
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 tow 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 printed 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.
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| Realized $53,500 |
