Lot 1027
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St. Louis, Mo., 1846, 5¢ black on gray lilac (11X4), type III, position 5, unusually large even margins, PF certificate states "ms cancel removed affecting the paper color", the paper is only minimally affected in the area of the manuscript cancel. Otherwise Extremely Fine.
Scott $25,000
AN EXCEEDINGLY HANDSOME EXAMPLE OF THIS RARE STAMP.
Expertization: 2004 P.F. Certificate.
The St Louis Bear stamps were printed from a single plate of six subjects that was modified twice to change the denominations of two positions. The rarity of the 5¢ on gray lilac paper derives from the use of gray lilac paper in only a portion of the printing from the second state of the plate. In the second state, there was only one position with the 5¢ value (position 5), the other two 5¢ positions (1 and 3) from the first state having been changed to 20¢ values. With this, the 5¢ on gray lilac is perhaps rarer than the 20¢ on gray lilac that had two positions on the second state of the plate.
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| Realized $15,000 |
