Lot 532
1901, 1¢ Pan-American, center inverted (294a), tied by "Birmingham, Ala. Aug 6 '01" duplex cancellation on part envelope, additional 1¢ postage due added and cancelled by manuscript, cover was apparently short paying the 2¢ first class rate; invert damaged, piece with aging, Fine.
Scott $13,000 as off-cover
AN IMPORTANT EXAMPLE OF THE 1¢ PAN-AMERICAN INVERT USED ON A PIECE FROM BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA ONLY FOUR DAYS AFTER THE EARLIEST DOCUMENTED USAGE.
Expertization: 1969 P.F. Certificate.
According to the 1937 revised Johl-King book (p. 7), "The first known copies of this error were discovered at Bessemer, Alabama, by the Carrel Jewelry Company on some circulars just prior to mailing them. When they realized the find they had made they lost no time in removing the stamps from the circulars and thus saved them for Philately." It is not known if the Carrel Jewelry Company had purchased the entire sheet.
In our auction of the Aristocrat collection (sale 316), we offered the earliest known use of the 1¢ Pan-American invert from Bessemer, Ala. on Aug. 2 that realized $184,000. The example offered here is dated only four days later on Aug. 6 from Birmingham, Ala. It is not known whether this originated from the original find at Bessemer, but Birmingham is less than 20 miles away.
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| Realized $10,000 |
