Sale 1139 — U.S. Treasures of Philately from The Irwin Weinberg Inventory
Sale Date — Wednesday, 9 November, 2016
Category — Washington-Franklin and Later Issues
10c Yellow, Coil (356). Slightly disturbed original gum at top, brilliant color, wide margins, minor perf separations at bottomVERY FINE AND SCARCE PAIR OF THE 10-CENT PERF 12 COIL.
According to Johl (Volume 1, page 181), only 10,000 of the 10c Washington coil stamp were issued. They were made especially for a New York firm to send out advertising samples, similar to the 3c Orangeburg coil. Only a few rolls were sold to the firm, and the remaining rolls were distributed to some of the large post offices across the country. Dealers acquired several rolls, but because most contemporary collectors did not collect coils, many were used and destroyed.
With 2016 P.F. certificate
5c Blue, Bluish (361). With plate no. 4930 in left selvage, partially hinge reinforced, bright colorVERY FINE. A RARE PLATE NUMBER SINGLE OF THE 5-CENT BLUISH PAPER.
The 5c is third rarest of the set and the rarest of the regularly issued Bluish Paper stamps. The 4c and 8c were released by postal officials and not sold through the post office.
With 1972 P.F. certificate
8c Olive Green, Bluish (363). Lightly hinged, rich color on deeply blued paperFINE EXAMPLE OF THE RARE 8-CENT ON BLUISH PAPER.
According to Johl (Vol. 1, page 175), the only source of the 4c and 8c Bluish stamps was the archives of the Post Office Department. Approximately 80 of each were traded for rare stamps missing from the archives.
With 1957 (for a block of four) and 2001 P.F. certificates
2c Carmine, Coil (388). Guide line pair, small h.r., brilliant colorA FINE AND RARE GUIDE LINE PAIR OF THE 1910 2-CENT PERF 12 COIL WITH SINGLE-LINE WATERMARK, SCOTT 388.
With 1970 P.F. and 2008 P.S.E. certificates
1c-10c Panama-Pacific (397-404). Blocks of four, 1c perf 12 with some separations, 2c perf 10 with plate no. top selvage, a number of the 1c-2c stamps Mint N.H., others hinged, some lightly and a couple with h.r., fresh colors, Fine-Very Fine, the key values are quite nice
10c Panama-Pacific, Perf 10 (404). Bottom plate no. 6143 block of six, lightly hinged, brilliant color, attractive marginsFINE-VERY FINE LIGHTLY-HINGED PLATE NUMBER BLOCK OF SIX OF THE 10-CENT PERF 10 PANAMA-PACIFIC ISSUE.
A desirable lightly-hinged bottom plate block
2c Red, Ty. I, Coil (449). Pair, top stamp Mint N.H., bottom stamp slight gum disturbance and pencil type notation, deep rich colorFINE PAIR OF THE 1915 2-CENT TYPE I VERTICAL COIL WITH THE TOP STAMP MINT NEVER-HINGED.
The 2c Type I rotary plate was used very briefly to make vertical coils issued in late 1915. It was briefly used because the Type I plate was not very deeply engraved and the curvature of the rotary press yielded impressions lacking in some of the details. The Bureau noticed this immediately, and quickly replaced it with the Type III plate (according to Scott, the EDU for No. 449 is Oct. 29, 1915, and the EDU for Type III is Dec. 10, 1915).
With 1977 P.F. certificate. Scott Retail as singles
2c Red, Ty. I, Coil (449). Pair, bottom stamp Mint N.H., top stamp h.r. and with joint line at top, deep rich color, few perf separationsFINE PAIR OF THE 1915 2-CENT TYPE I VERTICAL COIL WITH THE BOTTOM STAMP MINT NEVER-HINGED.
The 2c Type I rotary plate was used very briefly to make vertical coils issued in late 1915. It was briefly used because the Type I plate was not very deeply engraved and the curvature of the rotary press yielded impressions lacking in some of the details. The Bureau noticed this immediately, and quickly replaced it with the Type III plate (according to Scott, the EDU for No. 449 is Oct. 29, 1915, and the EDU for Type III is Dec. 10, 1915).
With 1977 P.F. certificate. Scott Retail as singles
5c Carmine, Error (467). Mint N.H. double error in pane of 100, with typed "In rememberance of your PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN VISIT to CHEYENNE, WYOMING on September 16th, 1932. Best wishes for your success. Sincerely Yours, A.P.S. #1905" and signed "P. Jacob Gauff", centering varies from Fine-Extremely Fine with the error block Fine-Very Fine, unusual dedication to F.D.R.
2c Deep Rose, Ty. Ia, Imperforate, Schermack Ty. III Private Perforation (482A). Schermack perfs visible at left, neat wavy-line machine cancel, characteristic rich color, centered to bottom right, light diagonal creaseFINE APPEARANCE. ONE OF THE RAREST 20TH CENTURY STAMPS, WITH ONLY 40 EXAMPLES RECORDED (ALL BUT ONE CANCELLED).
Scott 482A, like its slightly more famous predecessor, Scott 314A, was issued imperforate by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and sold to the Schermack Company for use in its patented stamp-affixing machines. The Schermack "Sealer and Stamper" machine typically applied stamps one at a time, and, in most cases, the hyphen-hole perfs on one side would be cut off. Unlike Scott 314A, the release of imperforate sheets printed from the experimental Type Ia plates escaped the notice of contemporary collectors, and, therefore, has a very small survival rate.
Our census of Scott 482A (available at www.siegelauctions.com/dynamic/census/482A/482A.pdf ) records one pair (ex Zoellner), three covers, one unused single and 34 used singles for a total of 40 stamps.
Census No. 482A-CAN-19. Ex "Bayou". With 1996 P.F. certificate
2c Deep Rose, Ty. I-Ia (499-500). Mint N.H. pair from Positions 94-95 with bottom plate no. 10208 selvage, left stamp Ty. Ia, choice centering, right stamp small gum skipEXTREMELY FINE MINT NEVER-HINGED SCOTT 499-500 COMBINATION PAIR.
Type Ia was created in 1919, when the Bureau of Engraving & Printing created an experimental 10-subject transfer roll, and used it to enter two new plates (Nos. 10208 and 10209). The two Type I positions from the bottom row of plate 10208 were the result of re-entries using the normal Type I transfer roll (the 10-subject roll would have been too large to accomplish single position re-entries).
This is one of the choicest examples of this combination we have encountered and it is unpriced in Scott as Mint N.H.. Scott Retail as hinged
2c Carmine, Ty. VII, Imperforate (534B). Huge margins all around including wide right sheet margin, cancelled by neat strike of "Oak Park Ill. Feb. 5 7-PM 1922" machine cancelEXTREMELY FINE. A SUPERB USED SHEET-MARGIN EXAMPLE OF THE 2-CENT TYPE VII IMPERFORATE, SCOTT 534B.
Ex Bowman. With 1998 P.S.E. and 2002 P.F. certificates
1c Green, Rotary, Perf 11 (594). Tied by "Madison Sq. Sta. N.Y. Oct. 4, 1924" machine slogan cancel on piece, originally a pair with second stamp at right removed, rich color, centered to bottom right, tear in piece does not affect stampFINE. A RARE USED EXAMPLE OF THE ONE-CENT ROTARY PRESS COIL WASTE STAMP, SCOTT 594.
The 1c Green, Scott 594, is waste from a horizontal rotary printing used to make coils. At the beginning or end of a coil-stamp print run from the 170-subject rotary plates, some leading or trailing paper was produced that was too short for rolling into 500-stamp rolls. In 1919 the Bureau devised a plan to salvage this waste by perforating and cutting the sheets into panes. They were put through the 11-gauge flat-plate perforator in use at the time, giving the sheets full perforations on all sides. The existence of Scott 594 was not reported until four months after the final sheets were delivered, and the 1c Rotary Perf 11 was soon recognized as one of the rarest United States stamps.
Our census of Scott 594, available at our website at: http://www.siegelauctions.com/dynamic/census/594/594.pdf, contains 88 used singles, four used pairs and five covers (including one with a pair) for a total of 102 used stamps. Many have perforations either in on one or more sides, or have faults. Very few are known on piece.
Census No. 594-PCE-77. With 1955 P.F. certificate
2c Harding, Rotary, Perf 11 (613). Horizontal strip of three comprising Positions 56-58 from the upper right pane of 100 of Plate 14867, choice centering with perforations completely clear of all three designs, deep shade, neat duplex cancel leaves outer stamps barely cancelled, lightly cleaned (shows only under ultraviolet light), single short perf at top of Position 58 mentioned on accompanying P.S.E. certificate, but not on P.F. certificateVERY FINE APPEARANCE. THIS IS THE UNIQUE STRIP OF THREE OF THE 2-CENT HARDING ROTARY PERF 11, WHICH IS THE LARGEST KNOWN MULTIPLE. ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT 20TH CENTURY MULTIPLES EXTANT, WHICH WAS DISCOVERED APPROXIMATELY TEN YEARS AGO.
Warren G. Harding, the 29th President, died in San Francisco on August 2, 1923, during a cross-country "Voyage of Understanding". Several people suggested a Harding memorial stamp, printed in black, and it was rushed into production. The first flat plate Perf 11 stamps (Scott 610) were issued on September 1, 1923, in his home town of Marion, Ohio, followed less than two weeks later by the rotary press Perf 10 stamps (Scott 612) on September 12.
The 2c Harding Rotary Perf 11 stamp -- combining the rotary press printing with the perforation gauge used for the flat plate printing -- was discovered in 1938 by Leslie Lewis of the New York firm, Stanley Gibbons Inc. Gary Griffith presents his hypothesis in United States Stamps 1922-26 that rotary-printed sheets of 400 were first reduced to panes of 100 and then fed through the 11-gauge perforating machine normally used for flat plate sheets. This method explains the existence of a straight-edge on Scott 613. Production quality and quantity was very low, due to the rotary press stamps' natural tendency to curl, and the use of the flat plate perforator for the slightly different-sized rotary printing.
For the first approximately 70 years that this issue was known, the largest multiples recorded were two pairs, one of which has been broken into two singles. The discovery of this strip by a Harding specialist created a sensation in the philatelic press before it was first auctioned by Matthew Bennett in 2007. In the process of expertizing the strip, the discoverer went to the National Postal Museum to study the eight proof sheets (3,200 stamps) pulled from the plates that were used for the rotary press printings. On the fifth sheet, the matching plating marks were discovered, proving that this multiple came from Positions 56-58 in the upper right pane of Plate 14867 -- a plate that was used only for rotary press printings.
Our updated census of the 2c Harding Rotary Perf 11, available at our website at http://www.siegelauctions.com/dynamic/census/613/613.pdf , records 45 used singles (one faintly cancelled, if at all), one used pair and this unique used strip of three.
Census No. 613-CAN-STR-01. With 2007 P.F. and P.S.E. certificates (the latter transposing two digits of the plate number)
2c Carmine, Postal Counterfeit of No. 634 (CF2). Tied by "New York N.Y. Sta. A. Aug. 5, 1936" machine cancel on brown J. & S. Milberg Inc. corner card cover to local address, Very Fine, a fascinating on-cover use of this contemporary postal counterfeit, accompanied by a margin block of 16 of the same counterfeit
2c Sullivan Expedition, Large Die Proof on India (657P1). Die sunk on 153 x 203mm card, brilliant color, blue Bureau control no. 333154 on back, Extremely Fine and rare, we have not encountered another example, ex President Roosevelt with 1946 H.R. Harmer backstamp