Sale 95: Gems of Philately

Lot 4219    

1918, 2¢ carmine, Offset imperf, type VII, horizontal pair with vertical guideline, o.g., never hinged (small natural gum wrinkles), large well balanced margins, rich radiant color, very fresh, Extremely Fine; with 2018 P.S.E. certificate.
Scott No. 534B    $7,500.

A RARE MINT MULTIPLE OF THE 1918 2¢ OFFSET TYPE VII IMPERFORATE ISSUE.

Realized: $5,500

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Lot 4220    

1923, 1¢ green, rotary sheet waste, perf 11, o.g., never hinged, rich bold color and very fresh, beautifully centered for this notoriously off-centered issue, F.-V.F.; with 1971, 1992 and 2016 P.F. certificates, the latter Graded (F-VF 75, SMQ $60,000).
Scott No. 544    $35,000 in the grade of fine.

A CHOICE AND EXTREMELY RARE EXAMPLE OF THE 1923 1¢ PERF 11 ROTARY SHEET WASTE ISSUE IN NEVER HINGED CONDITION - WITH APPROXIMATELY NINE SUCH EXAMPLES IN EXISTENCE.

A small quantity of 1¢ Rotary Press stamps was perforated 11 at the end of 1922, using remainder sheets from the earlier printings that were normally perforated in 10 gauge or 11/10 compound gauge. Most of the recorded copies of Scott 544 are off-center or have been damaged as a result of lower production standards and poor handling. It was not discovered until 1936 when three used examples came to light.

Realized: $37,500

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Lot 4221 o   

1923, 1¢ green, rotary coil waste, neat slogan machine cancel, wide margins and beautifully centered for this notoriously off-centered issue, rich vivid color on bright fresh paper, Extremely Fine, Scott catalog value for stamp with perforations just touching frameline on one side; with 2001 P.F. certificate.
Scott No. 594    $10,500.

ONE OF THE FINEST USED EXAMPLES OF THE RARE 1923 1¢ GREEN ROTARY COIL WASTE PERF 11 ISSUE - ONE OF THE VERY FEW BOTH SOUND AND WELL CENTERED.

The coil waste issues came about from the unusable portions (or waste) the derived when producing coils from the horizontal rotary printings. In the case of the 1923 1¢ coil waste (594) the waste had not been previously perforated and therefore were entirely perforated with the flat plate perforator which gauged 11x11. Since the Bureau did not consider this "coil waste" a different issue, no formal announcement was issues prior to their release. It wasn't until 1925 that this issue was discovered in used condition and by the next year only four examples were on record.

Realized: $8,500

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Lot 4222 o   

1923, 1¢ green, rotary coil waste, slogan machine cancel, rich deep color, design a bit into perfs at top, Fine, Scott catalog value for stamp with perforations just touching frameline on one side; signed S.K. Stryker, with 1952 P.F. & 2020 P.S.E. certificates.
Scott No. 594    $10,500.

AN ATTRACTIVE USED EXAMPLE OF THE 1923 1¢ PERF 11 ROTARY COIL WASTE ISSUE.

Kelly Stryker was curator at the Philatelic Foundation in N.Y.C. and co-owned the auction company Laurence & Stryker in the 1930-50's. Mr. Stryker also discovered the first unused #594. This example was one of the original find.

Certificate:
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Lot 4223 o   

1923, 1¢ green, rotary sheet waste, very light machine cancel, well centered for this notoriously off-centered issue, strong bright color, trivial short perforation at bottom right, Very Fine for the issue, ex-Grunin; with 1963 & 2019 P.F. certificates.
Scott No. 596    $250,000 for the grade of fine.

AN ATTRACTIVE EXAMPLE OF THE 1923 1¢ ROTARY SHEET WASTE PERF 11 (SCOTT 596) ISSUE - A GREAT 20TH CENTURY RARITY WITH ONLY FIFTEEN EXAMPLES RECORDED.

This is without question the rarest United States issue of the 20th century. It was probably produced during the middle of 1924 however it was only discovered in 1962. This issue was the result of "coil waste" but rather than made from horizontal coil sheets, such as Scott #578-579 and #594-595, this issue was made from vertical coil waste sheets. The difference being in the measurement of the design as the horizontal coil design is wider since the plates have been stretched by curving them in that direction in order to fit the cylinder on the rotary press. In the same fashion, the vertical coil plates were curved in the vertical direction causing the design to stretch vertically.

Of the 15 known examples (all used), only five have machine cancels (the other ten bearing the Kansas City, Mo. precancel) and only two are completely sound (the other two have vary degree of faults far more significant than the "short perf" mentioned here).

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Lot 4224 o   

1923, 2¢ Harding, Rotary, The Rare Perf 11, positions 56 from the upper right pane of 100 of plate #14867, light face free duplex cancels, well centered for this notoriously off-centered issue, strong bold color, stamp lightly cleaned which only shows under ultraviolet light, otherwise Very Fine; with 2017 P.S.E. certificate.
Scott No. 613    $40,000 in the grade of fine.

ONE OF THE FINEST APPEARING EXAMPLES OF THE 1923 2¢ HARDING ROTARY PERF 11 ISSUE BEARING ONE THE LIGHTEST CANCELS ON THIS ISSUE.

The Harding Memorial stamps mark one of the quickest turnarounds from concept to delivery in the history of U.S. postage stamps. President Harding, the 29th president of the U.S., died of a heart attack on August 2, 1923. Less than a month later a memorial stamp honoring his presidency was issued. How the Bureau of Engraving and Printing managed to print over one and one half billion stamps in 3 months is also something of a miracle. It is possible the haste at which this stamp was produced might be at least partially behind one of the great rarities of 20th century U.S. stamps, the rotary press sheet waste stamp perforated 11x11. The stamp was printed on the rotary presses, but was perforated on the flat plate, perf 11 equipment, rather than with the normal perf 10 perforating machines used to perforate the rotary press stamps of the time.

Realized: $20,000

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Lot 4225    

1927, 1¢ green, rotary, imperf between, vertical pair, o.g., never hinged, deep bold color, Post Office fresh, fresh and Fine, with only 29 pairs reported; with photocopy of 1989 P.F. and 2020 P.F. certificate.
Scott No. 632b    $5,500 for the grade of fine.

AN EXTREMELY RARE NEVER HINGED EXAMPLE OF THE 1927 1¢ FRANKLIN ROTARY IMPERFORATE BETWEEN VARIETY.

Realized: $2,300

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Lot 4226 o   

1929, 8¢ Nebraska, light boxed cancel, perfectly centered amid evenly balanced margins, rich deep color, a Superb gem, the sole example with this gem grade with the next highest used example is a 90; with 2013 P.S.E. certificate Graded (Gem 100, SMQ $1,600).
Scott No. 677    $25.

THE FINEST KNOWN USED EXAMPLE OF THE 1929 8¢ NEBRASKA OVERPRINT ISSUE.

Realized: $1,900

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Lot 4227    

1931, 13¢ yellow green, rotary, o.g., never hinged, perfect centering within large evenly balanced margins, brilliant yellow green color, a Superb gem, one of five examples with this Gem grade, only one graded at 100J; with 2019 P.S.E. certificate Graded (Gem 100, SMQ $1,000).
Scott No. 694    $4.

ONE OF THE FINEST MINT NEVER HINGED EXAMPLES OF THE 1931 13¢ HARDING ROTARY ISSUE.

Realized: $850

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Lot 4228    

1934, 7¢ Parks, imperf vertically, horizontal pair, o.g., never hinged, well centered amid wide margins, very fresh, Very Fine and choice, very scarce in never hinged condition, rare and undercataloged as such, with only 50 pairs issued; with 2016 P.F. certificate.
Scott No. 746a    $2,000.

AN CHOICE NEVER HINGED EXAMPLE OF THE 1934 7¢ PARKS IMPERFORATE VERTICALLY VARIETY.

Realized: $1,450

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