Sale 1135 — The Grant Inman Collection, Part 2: U.S. Officials
Sale Date — Thursday, 15 September, 2016
Category — Official Special Printings - Executive and Interior Departments
1c-10c Executive, Specimen Ovpt. (O10S-O14S). Incl. 1c on horizontally ribbed paper (O10Sa), dotted "i" (O10Sb) and soft paper (O10Xs), without gum as issued, better centering than normally seen in a set except O10Sb in at bottom, Very Fine-Extremely Fine group
3c Interior, Specimen Ovpt. (O17S). Without gum as issued, brilliant color, perfs scissors-trimmed as usual but intact on all sides, Very Fine and choice, scarce as only 88 sold
6c Interior, Specimen Ovpt. (O18S). Without gum as issued, brilliant color, choice centering incl. wide margin at right with natural s.e., Extremely Fine, a beautiful example of this rarity, only 83 sold
10c Interior, Specimen Ovpt. (O19S). Without gum as issued, brilliant color, wide margins, perfs scissors-separated at top and bottom affecting some bottom perfs, still Very Fine and scarce with such wide margins, only 82 sold
12c Interior, Specimen Ovpt. (O20S). Without gum as issued, intense shade and impression, perfs scissors-separated as usual for this issue but intact on all sides, Very Fine and choice, this is one of the finest we have encountered, a Power Search review found six others, which are all scissors-separated but mostly off-center, perhaps one other compares favorably to the example offered here, only 75 sold
15c Interior, Specimen Ovpt. (O21S). Without gum as issued, radiant color, perfs scissors-separated but mostly intact, Very Fine, scarce as only 78 sold
24c Interior, Specimen Ovpt. (O22S). Without gum as issued, brilliant color, wide margins, light soiling on face, otherwise Very Fine and choice, scarce with such wide margins, only 77 sold, Ebel backstamp
30c Interior, Specimen Ovpt. (O23S). Without gum as issued, near perfect centering with unusually wide and balanced margins, single pulled perf at right, otherwise Extremely Fine, scarce with such superb centering, only 75 sold, Ebel backstamp
90c Interior, Specimen Ovpt. (O24S). Without gum as issued, radiant color, wide margins, Fine, only 77 sold, Ebel backstamp
2c Interior, "Sepcimen" Error (O16a). Without gum as issued, brilliant color, three wide margins, perfs just in at topFRESH AND FINE. ONLY ONE OR TWO EXAMPLES OF THE 2-CENT INTERIOR WITH THE "SEPCIMEN" SPELLING ERROR ARE RECORDED. THIS IS THE ONLY INTERIOR DEPARTMENT ISSUE WITH THE SPELLING ERROR -- IT WAS CAUGHT AND CORRECTED DURING PRODUCTION IF THIS INTERIOR DEPARTMENT VALUE.
The "Sepcimen" error occurred on Position 21 of the overprint setting. Stamps printed from sheets of 200 were separated into panes of 100, so depending on whether the underlying stamp was from the left or right pane it would have perforations on all sides (left pane) or a straight edge at left (right pane).
An intact pane of the 2c Interior, once owned by Elliott Perry, is known without the "Sepcimen" spelling error. Combs also notes that Perry had seen one pane with the spelling error, so this would indicate it was corrected during printing of the 2c Interior. Markovits (2004 Bennett sale) noted two are known; we assume the other is contained in the pane noted in the Combs book, but it is possible that pane was divided. We do not know the whereabouts of the potential second copy.
No other denomination of the Interior department is known with the spelling error. For the 1c Interior, a large quantity was sold (7,194) but none have been recorded with the error, so it is highly likely it was discovered before the 1c denomination was printed. Quantities sold for the 3c thru 90c are all under 100. We do not know the order of overprinting; therefore, it is possible other "Sepcimen" errors exist (one of each is possible) but have never been seen. The Executive and Treasury departments must have been the last to be printed, because the overprint error is not known on any of those issues.
Ex Sheriff and Markovits. With 2004 P.F. certificate