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).