Lot 1054
1923, 1¢ green, rotary (581), tied by May 18, 1923 Wilmington, Calif. machine cancel, the Earliest Documented Usage, on a tri-fold mailing card written aboard the Admiral Line’s H.F. Alexander, the back of the card being a multicolor ship’s breakfast menu. A Very Fine and truly gorgeous EDU. Brookman $7,500.
A UNIQUE COVER — THE ONLY RECORDED COVER BEARING AN UNPRECANCELLED #581 PRIOR TO ITS OCTOBER 17TH RELEASE BY THE PHILATELIC AGENCY.
Expertization: 2002 A.P.S. certificate.
In 1923 the Bureau chose the 1¢ value to continue its experiments with the use of the rotary press to produce sheet stamps, an experiment it had begun earlier with the Washington-Franklin issues. The first plates of the 1¢ went to press on April 2nd and were distributed to post offices without official notice, probably in late April. The first examples to show up were precancelled New York, leading to the erroneous assumption that the first distribution consisted entirely of these New York precancels. It was subsequently learned that precancels were not ordered until May 31st, and not delivered until June 6th. Therefore, unprecancelled stamps were available prior to that June 6th date, and probably afterward, but only one such cover is recorded, the cover being offered here.
|
| |
| Unsold |
