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Sale 279
Lot 77
o
Canal Zone 1912, 5c deep blue & black, vignette error (Cordoba portrait of 2c) (40a), well centered and lightly cancelled. Light creases and small thins. Fresh Very Fine appearance.
Scott $8,750
AN EXCELLENT EXAMPLE OF THIS RARE ERROR, ONLY ABOUT TEN OF WHICH HAVE BEEN RECORDED, MOST OF WHICH ARE DEFECTIVE.
This spectacular error was not discovered until 1925, a full nine years after it was issued. Dr. Leeds recalls its discovery: "After the announcement [of the error] by Marks Stamp Co. of Toronto in 1925 the family searched its stocks for a copy. Our incentive was Marks' $300 asking price. At that time The Canal Zone Stamp Co. (my family) was supplying the tourist traps with small collections [of Canal Zone/Panama stamps]. To satisfy this thirst for packet material purchases were made of 5¢ denomination stamps from the most likely sources, Jamaica, other B.W.I. islands, and London. Six or seven packets of 100 5¢ stamps were in stock. [These included the four recognized types] and possibly a few #48 which we failed to recognize. On about the next to last packet opened my mother casually asked, 'Is this it?' My father's reply was 'Wonderful, I'll buy you a hat’ [To which she responded] 'But I don't need a hat!' The next day he brought home a box of chocolates."
Leeds' copy was the fourth to be discovered and has since become known as the "Gatun" copy. It was last displayed in the Court of Honor at PACIFIC '97.
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| Realized $12,100 |
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Lot 31
 
Canal Zone 1904, 8¢ on 50c bister brown (15, 15 var.), block of four. Position 48-49/58-59, top stamps type B "8", bottom stamps long "PANAMA". Mostly dry o.g. Very Fine. CZSG 15.4, 15.2a.
Scott $11,500 ++
AN EXCEEDINGLY RARE BLOCK, ESPECIALLY SO IN THAT ONLY 50 OF THE 500 ISSUED HAVE THE 15-16MM "PANAMA".
Expertization: 1964 P.F. Certificate.
Because the long PANAMA appears in two horizontal groups of five in the setting, only 20 blocks with two of the variety could ever have existed. It is quite possible that this is the only surviving example; certainly no more than two or three could still be intact.
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| Realized $6,325 |
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Lot 50
o
Canal Zone 1907, 2c carmine red & black, inverted center, overprint reading up (23g), small faults as always. Otherwise Very Fine.
Scott $6,000
A GREAT RARITY; ONLY ABOUT A DOZEN EXAMPLES ARE RECORDED ALL OF WHICH ARE USED (ONE COVER IS KNOWN).
Apparently one sheet of 100 was sold without anyone noticing the error and, in all likelihood, they were all used for postage. The error was not discovered until a few years after issue and all recorded examples are defective.
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| Realized $4,950 |
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Lot 32
o
Canal Zone 1904, 8¢ on 50c bister brown (15), position 80, neat black 7-bar cancel. Few short perforations at top. Otherwise F.-V.F.
Scott $4,500
FEWER THAN TEN USED EXAMPLES OF THIS RARE STAMP HAVE BEEN RECORDED.
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| Realized $4,950 |
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Lot 83
Canal Zone 1920, 2c orange vermilion & black (47), perfectly centered. Full o.g. Extremely Fine.
Scott $3,250
A CHOICE EXAMPLE OF THE RAREST OF ALL REGULARLY ISSUED CANAL ZONE STAMPS.
Expertization: photocopy of 1974 A.P.S. Certificate for pair.
Provenance: Helme
While the printing of 200,000 copies of the 2¢ "Mt. Hope" overprint is an order of magnitude greater than that of Scott #15 (only 500), the former far more elusive. It is estimated that no more than 100 mint examples have survived, and most of them are poorly printed and/or poorly centered (19,000 were immediately destroyed for "unsatisfactory press work"). The inferior quality of the local printing apparently caused collectors of the day to shun them and local postmasters to quickly move them to the bottom of their stocks as new supplies of the 2¢ type V came in from the A.B.N.Co. (1,000,000 copies of the 2¢ type V arrived in the Canal Zone less than two weeks after the Panama Canal Press delivered their inferior supply of the 2¢ type III). For this reason it is likely that the vast majority of all the 2¢ type III sold were used for postage and that a large percentage of those unsold were still among the 629,160 2¢ stamps destroyed in 1937.
In contrast, most of the 500 #15's printed were sold to dealers or collectors and can still be accounted for.
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| Realized $4,400 |
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Lot 169
Canal Zone Registration Envelope, 1918, 10¢ on 5c black & red on cream, narrow surcharge (UF1), size 8 entire, F-VF. Only 1,000 of the size 8 envelope were issued compared with 9,000 of the size 6. Only three mint examples are recorded. UPSS R2 $3,000.
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| Realized $4,400 |
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Lot 127
Canal Zone 1926, 15¢ gray, sharp "A" (90), right margin block of four with plate #17432 and large 5-point star. O.g., lightly hinged. Slightly heavy gum breaker creases. Very Fine and an exceedingly rare plate block, listed by Scott only as a plate block of four but not priced. CZSG 90.B.
Estimate 1,500 - 2,000
ONE OF ONLY THREE RECORDED PLATE BLOCKS OF FOUR AND THE ONLY ONE FROM PLATE 17432. THERE ARE NO RECORDED PLATE BLOCKS OF SIX (SEE THE NEXT LOT).
Only 142 sheets of 400 from four star plates (#17430, 17431, 17432 and 17433) were sent to the Canal Zone, with the star being printed only in the right margin of the upper right pane. Hence, a combined total of only 142 star plate blocks from all four plates could ever have existed .
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| Realized $3,575 |
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Lot 161
Canal Zone Envelope, 1916, 2c carmine & black, head and overprint only (U2b var.), unused entire with full impression of a normal U2 on the inside upright in the upper left corner (as viewed from the front), apparently addressed before the owner discovered the error. Slight toning. Otherwise Very Fine. UPSS 2e var. $2,000.
ONE OF ONLY TWO RECORDED. THE OTHER HAS THE INSIDE IMPRESSION SIDEWAYS AS LISTED IN UPPS.
Expertization: 1984 P.F. Certificate.
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| Realized $3,575 |
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Lot 2
Canal Zone 1904, 2c rose, "PANAMA" reading up (1, 1d), upper left corner block of 4. Position 1 with left "PANAMA" reading down. O.g. F.-V.F.
Scott $2,650
Expertization: 1984 P.F. and 1969 A.P.S. Certificates.
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| Realized $2,860 |
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Lot 110
BK
Canal Zone 1921, 2c carmine (61f), with full tab. Mostly dry o.g. F.-V.F.
Scott $2,100
About half of the recorded examples of this pane were torn from booklets, thereby removing the tab.
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| Realized $2,640 |
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