Sale 281


 
Lot 339

o

Togo, 1915, 1m carmine, 3m violet-black, and 5m carmine and black, from an individual setting (SG H23, H25, H26 var.), the "Anglo-French" overprint measures 15mm and the lines are spaced 1½mm apart, cancelled by "Lome, Togo/ 22.6.14" c.d.s., error of month "6" for "9", the 1m on piece, the 2m has tiny hole to left of Togo and the 5m has a few pinholes and slight surface disturbance, of no importance for such significant stamps. Very Fine appearance. The greatest rarities of Togo in existence, Illustrated in Gibbs, page 195. Maury €145,250 ($156,870). Gibbs 35, 37, 38.
SG £80,000+ ($102,000)

Expertization: 1986 Holcombe Certificate.

These three stamps are the only recorded examples of the 1 mark, 3 mark, and 5 mark values printed from an individual setting. There is also an example of the 2 marks from an individual setting similarly cancelled, which was in the Danson collection.
The existence of these stamps has been known and documented since at least 1921. There is a copy of a letter from the Bennett Savings Bank of Bennett, Iowa offering these stamps for sale to the Exchange Stamp Company on behalf of a Reverend C. Bendigkeit, followed by a letter from Ernest Harmer of Harmer, Rooke to the Exchange Stamp Company verifying the genuine status of the 1 mark and arranging a possible sale. There is also a copy of a letter from Robson Lowe presumably written in 1926 stating that he has three possible buyers for these stamps at $7,500.
The error of month in the cancellations was reported in "Ewen's Weekly Stamp News" as early as January 30, 1915: "I have found a curious mistake in the postmark on letters posted on the 12th and 22nd September, viz., the number of the month is inadvertently given as 6 instead of 9."


 
Unsold



Go to lot: