Sale 1135 — The Grant Inman Collection, Part 2: U.S. Officials
Sale Date — Thursday, 15 September, 2016
Category — Official Special Printings - Post Office Department
1c Post Office, Specimen Ovpt., Inverted Ovpt. (O47Sb). Without gum as issued, deep shade, some age spotting at center, otherwise Very Fine, scarce as it is believed only one sheet of 100 was printed with the overprint inverted, it is possible that a "Sepcimen" inverted exists but it has never been seen, normal accompanies for comparison
2c Post Office, Specimen Ovpt. (O48S). Without gum as issued, detailed impression, wide margins, Fine
3c Post Office, Specimen Ovpt. (O49S). Without gum as issued, intense shade and impression, perfs scissors-separated but intact on all sides, Very Fine, only 91 sold
6c Post Office, Specimen Ovpt. (O50S). Without gum as issued, wide bottom margin and full perforations all around, fresh and Fine, scarce as only 87 sold
10c Post Office, Specimen Ovpt. (O51S). Without gum as issued, deep shade, wide margins, Very Fine and choice, only 177 sold
12c Post Office, Specimen Ovpt. (O52S). Without gum as issued, detailed impression, well-proportioned margins, perfs scissors-separated but intact on all four sides, Very Fine and choice, an attractive stamp, only 93 sold
15c Post Office, Specimen Ovpt. (O53S). Without gum as issued, deep shade and detailed impression, almost perfectly centered with full perforations all aroundEXTREMELY FINE GEM. THIS IS EASILY ONE OF THE FINEST EXAMPLES OF THE 15-CENT POST OFFICE SPECIAL PRINTING IN EXISTENCE.
Only 82 sold. This example compares favorably with the ex-Golden copy, which realized $4,500 hammer in our Sale 1095. These two are by far the finest we have ever encountered.
24c Post Office, Specimen Ovpt. (O54S). Without gum as issued, deep shade, perfs scissors-separated but intact, Very Fine, only 84 sold
30c Post Office, Specimen Ovpt. (O55S). Without gum as issued, detailed impression, full perforations, Very Fine, this value has the lowest sale quantity of the Post Office Department Special Printings with only 81 sold
90c Post Office, Specimen Ovpt. (O56S). Without gum as issued, pretty shade, perfs scissors-separated but intact on all sides, Very Fine, only 82 sold
1c Post Office, "Sepcimen" Error (O47Sa). Without gum as issued, intense shade, intact perforations on all sides, fresh and Fine, scarce example of this "Sepcimen" error, with a sold quantity of 6,015, it is possible that 60 "Sepcimen" errors were released, but we do not know how the sheets were divided and sold, nor do we know if the entire print run had the error in Position 21, reports of known examples are fewer than a dozen
3c Post Office, "Sepcimen" Error (O49Sa). Without gum as issued, scissors-separated but perforations are mostly intact except for a few at topTHE ONLY RECORDED EXAMPLE OF THE 3-CENT POST OFFICE DEPARTMENT SPECIAL PRINTING WITH "SEPCIMEN" ERROR. ONE OF THE GREAT RARITIES OF SPECIAL PRINTINGS.
Only 91 copies of the 3c Post Office Special Printing were sold. Assuming that one sheet was divided and sold before starting on the next sequential sheet (we do not know if that, in fact, was the practice), then no more than one 3c Post Office "Sepcimen" error (Position 21) was sold. According to Combs, the existence of a 3c Post Office "Sepcimen" was reported by Konwiser in 1925 (see page 40 of Combs book), but it was not listed in the Scott Catalogue until 1971, two years after it was certified by Herbert Bloch of the Friedl Expert Committee.
Ex Golden. With 1969 Friedl certificate.
15c Post Office, "Sepcimen" Error (O53Sa). Without gum as issued, intense shade on bright paper, three wide margins, perfs clear at topVERY FINE. THIS IS THE ONLY RECORDED EXAMPLE OF THE 15-CENT POST OFFICE DEPARTMENT WITH THE "SEPCIMEN" SPELLING ERROR. ONE OF THE GREAT RARITIES OF THE ISSUE.
Only 82 copies of the 15c Post Office Special Printing were sold, but it is not known how the stamps were taken from the sheets or if full sheets were exhausted before breaking a subsequent sheet. If full sheets were used, then only one can possibly exist. The Combs book notes an example sold for $310 in a 1934 Sanabria sale, which must have been the stamp offered here. At the time, it was the second-highest price paid for any "Sepcimen" error -- the highest was for a 30c Agriculture at $330.
Ex Stone, Sheriff and Markovits. With 2004 P.F. certificate
24c Post Office, "Sepcimen" Error (O54Sa). Without gum as issued, intense shade and impression, perfs scissors-separated but intact on all sidesFINE. THIS IS ONE OF ONLY TWO RECORDED EXAMPLES OF THE 24-CENT POST OFFICE DEPARTMENT WITH THE "SEPCIMEN" SPELLING ERROR. ONE OF THE GREAT RARITIES OF THE ISSUE, THIS IS THE FIRST TO COME TO MARKET SINCE OUR 1992 SHERIFF SALE.
Only 84 copies of the 24c Post Office Special Printing were sold, but it is not known how the stamps were taken from the sheets or if full sheets were exhausted before breaking a subsequent sheet. Two examples are known, lending credence to the theory that in some instances sheets were cut apart in advance and were sold before each sheet was exhausted. The scissors separations on the example offered here also indicates this method was used, at least for this issue.
The other recorded example of this error, ex Lewenthal and Sheriff and illustrated in the Combs book, has remained in a private collection since our 1992 auction of the Sheriff collection.
With 2016 P.F. certificate
90c Post Office, "Sepcimen" Error (O56Sa). Without gum as issued, detailed impression, wide margins, perfs scissors-separated but intact on three sides, reperfed at topVERY FINE APPEARANCE. THIS IS THE ONLY RECORDED EXAMPLE OF THE 90-CENT POST OFFICE DEPARTMENT WITH THE "SEPCIMEN" SPELLING ERROR. ONE OF THE GREAT RARITIES OF THE ISSUE.
Only 82 copies of the 90c Post Office Special Printing were sold, but it is not known how the stamps were taken from the sheets or if full sheets were exhausted before breaking a subsequent sheet. If full sheets were used, then only one can exist. The Combs book notes a copy was sold in a 1949 Laurence & Stryker sale, which must be the example offered here.
Signed Sloane in pencil. With 2016 P.F. certificate