Lot
546 
1861, 1¢ blue, type I, block of 4 (positions 25-26/35-36L12), o.g., lightly hinged, top stamps showing double transfer variety, beautifully centered throughout with rich vibrant color, top left corner perf added on top left stamp mention on P.F. certificate only, otherwise Extremely Fine, a magnificent and rare mint multiple; with 2017 P.S.E. & 2021 P.F. certificates.Scott No. 18 $14,000.
STILL ONE OF THE FINEST MINT ORIGINAL GUM BLOCKS OF FOUR OF THE 1861, 1¢ TYPE I ISSUE.
Realized: $3,750
Lot
547 
1861, 1¢ blue, type I, horizontal strip of three, Positions 98-100R12, on tobacconist corner card cover to West Barre, Pa., canceled by segmented grid handstamps with matching "Philadelphia, Pa., Aug 5, 1861" octagon date stamp tying; minor cover corner wear at bottom right, Very Fine; with 2012 R. Doporto certificate.Scott No. 18 Estimate $500 - 750.
Realized: $350
Lot
548
1861, 1¢ blue, types II-I-II, vertical strip of three, centered into perfs at left, rich color, applied over blue corner card handstamp on folded letter sheet to North White Creek, N.Y., tied by "New York, Aug 3, 1861" cds and grid duplex; cover missing bottom flap and slightly reduced, otherwise Very Fine.Scott No. 18, 20 Estimate $400 - 600.
Realized: $200
Lot 549 o
1857, 1¢ blue, type Ia, wide spaced perforation at top and bottom, Position 92L4, perfect centering amid uncommonly wide margins even at sides, beautiful rich vibrant color on bright paper, a Superb jumbo gem, ex-Eno, Zoellner, Hinrichs & Tahoe; with 2004 P.F. & 2008 P.S.E. certificates, the latter Graded (Superb 98J, SMQ $330,000).Scott No. 19 $10,000.
A TRULY OUTSTANDING USED EXAMPLE OF THE 1857 1¢ TYPE 1A PERFORATED ISSUE - CONSIDERED TO BE THE FINEST KNOWN EXAMPLE OF THIS ISSUE AND ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT 1¢ FRANKLIN ISSUES IN EXISTENCE.
According to Neinken, the Type IA stamps were only produced from 18 of the 20 positions from the bottom row of Plate 4. For some months prior to the manufacture of Plate 4, Toppan, Carpenter & Co. had been making experiments with a machine to perforate sheets of stamps. When Plate 3 was made in the spring of 1856 their experiments had not advanced to the state where they considered the new method practical, because Plate 3 was not made with spacings large enough to permit the inclusion of perforations. In contrast, when they made Plate 4, their experiments had reached the practical stage, and consequently Plate 4 was made with spacings large enough to introduce perforations in the vertical and horizontal spacings.
The plate four designs of the six reliefs on the roller were approximately of the same length but the short transferring on the plate, combined with the erasures in the horizontal spacings, made the designs in the 2nd to 9th rows inclusive, somewhat shorter than the designs of the top and bottom rows. As a result, when the sheets were perforated, if the perforations did not touch the top part of the designs in the top row, the perforations did cut into the bottom of the designs of these top row stamps. And in addition, it was found that the perforations, with the machine so set, cut into the tops and across the bottom of the stamps in the bottom row. To correct this defect, the machine was reset for the perforating of the top and bottom rows for the first lot of sheets run through the perforating machine. This accounts for stamps from these two rows which show the horizontal perforations farther apart than found on any stamps coming from the body of the plate. This practice of resetting the machine was not continued for any length of time, but the resetting gave us what we refer to as the "wide spaced perforations", the only fine copies that are known of the scarce Types II, IC and IA from Plate Four. The length of the design of a IA stamp is 26mm whereas the normal perforations measure between 25 and 25½mm apart, top to bottom, on stamps from the body of the plate. A short temporary resetting of the machine to 27 to 27½mm was necessary to produce a perforated Type IA stamp not cut into by the perforations.
The perforated Type IA stamps that are not touched by perforations as the rarest stamps in the 1857 perforated issue. This example offered here not only exhibits this quality, but is superbly centered making this the finest example known.
Realized: $85,000
Lot
550
1857, 1¢ blue, type Ia, Position 99R4, rich deep color, neatly tied by "Troy, N.Y., Paid, Nov 1, 1858" cds on fresh locally addressed cover, Very Fine and choice; with 1989 P.S.E. certificate.Scott No. 19; $11,000 Estimate $3,000 - 4,000.
AN ATTRACTIVE AND RARE ON COVER USAGE OF THE 1857 1¢ TYPE IA PERFORATED ISSUE.
Lot
551
1857, 1¢ blue, type Ia, Position 91L4, clearly showing wide break at top, in at bottom and right, rich color, tied by neat circular grid handstamp on printed Dec 30, 1857 Philadelphia stock exchange report circular to Pughtown, Pa., Very Fine, a rare on cover usage of the 1851 1¢ type Ia; with 2017 P.S.E. certificate.Scott No. 19; $11,000 on cover Estimate $1,000 - 1,500.
Realized: $1,500
Lot
552
1857, 1¢ blue, types Ia & III, vertical pair, Positions 83-93R4, rich color, some trimmed perfs at top, tied by "Hartford, Ct., Dec 28, 1856" cds on cover to North Branford, Ct.; cover with small edge flaws, F.-V.F.; with 2019 Crowe certificate.Scott No. 19, 21; $14,000 for off cover Estimate $2,000 - 3,000.
AN EXTREMELY RARE 1857 1¢ TYPES III & IIIA COMBINATION PAIR ON COVER.