Sale 1234 — The Gary Petersen Collection of Important United States Stamps
Sale Date — Thursday-Friday, 29-30 April, 2021
Category — 1912-23 Issues (Scott 445-491)
3c Violet, Coil (445). Pair, original gum, lightly hinged, bright shade, Fine-Very Fine
2c Red, Ty. I, Coil (449). Pair with joint line showing at bottom, original gum, lightly hinged, radiant color, choice centering for this difficult issueVERY FINE AND CHOICE PAIR OF THE 2-CENT VERTICAL COIL, SCOTT 449.
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 1964 and 1993 P.F. certificates
2c Red, Ty. I, Coil (449). Brilliant color, original gum, small h.r. at bottom rightVERY FINE AND CHOICE EXAMPLE OF THE 1915 TYPE I VERTICAL COIL, SCOTT 449.
With 2006 P.S.E. certificate
2c Carmine, Ty. I, Imperforate Coil (459). Pair, original gum, small h.r., full margins, radiant color, Very Fine, Ward backstamp, with 1984 P.F. certificate
$1.00 Violet Black (460). Bottom imprint, plate no. 5782 and letter "A" block of six, original gum, lightly hinged, intense shade and impression, some horizontal perf separations expertly reinforcedVERY FINE. AN EXCEEDINGLY RARE IMPRINT AND PLATE NUMBER BLOCK OF THE PERF 10 DOUBLE-LINE WATERMARK $1.00 FRANKLIN, SCOTT 460.
Lewis Kaufman records only six top and six bottom plate blocks for this issue. Ex "MLG".
30c Orange Red, Perf 10 (476A). Position 66 from plate no. 6911, Mint N.H., radiant color on bright paperVERY FINE AND CHOICE. A BEAUTIFUL MINT NEVER-HINGED EXAMPLE OF THE RARE 30-CENT PERF 10 FRANKLIN ON UNWATERMARKED PAPER.
Two complete panes of 100 of Scott 476A have been certified by The Philatelic Foundation and subsequently broken up into singles, blocks and four plate blocks. Many are off-center.
With 1984 P.F. certificate.
$1.00 Violet Black (478). Original gum, with top plate no. 5782 selvage, deep rich color, lightly erased pencil notation at top of selvage, Very Fine, with 2006 P.F. certificate
$2.00 Dark Blue (479). Mint N.H. top plate no. 8015 block of six with wide selvage, rich color, bright paper, staple hole affects perf in selvage at upper rightFINE. A RARE WIDE TOP PLATE NUMBER BLOCK OF SIX OF THE $2.00 MADISON PERF 10.
Very few exist with such wide top selvage. Ex "MLG"
$5.00 Light Green (480). Top plate no. 8016 block of six with wide selvage, lightly hinged, radiant colorFRESH AND FINE-VERY FINE. A BEAUTIFUL PLATE BLOCK OF THE $5.00 MARSHALL PERF 10 WITH WIDE TOP SELVAGE.
This is the only plate number used to print this issue. Ex "MLG"
$5.00 Light Green (480). Bottom plate no. 8016 block of six, center stamps lightly hinged, other four Mint N.H., rich color on crisp paperFRESH AND FINE. AN ATTRACTIVE $5.00 MARSHALL PERF 10 PLATE BLOCK.
Ex "MLG". With 1980 P.F. certificate
2c Deep Rose, Ty. Ia, Imperforate, Schermack Ty. III Private Perforation (482A). Deep rich color on bright paper, with Schermack perforations mostly trimmed at sides but still clearly visible at left, wide margins at top and bottom, wavy-line machine cancelFINE EXAMPLE OF THE RARE 2-CENT TYPE Ia IMPERFORATE ISSUE. THIS IS ONE OF THE RAREST ISSUES OF THE 20TH CENTURY.
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 our website at https://siegelauctions.com/census/US/Scott/482A , records one used pair (ex Zoellner), three covers, one unused single (perfs trimmed on both sides) and 41 used singles for a total of 47 stamps.
Schermack Type III stamps are often cut into the design by the oblong perforations or miscut with one side of the perforated margin missing. This problem for collectors, which meant very little to contemporary users of the stamps, resulted from two consecutive events. First, the sheets were perforated with the Schermack holes, creating an opportunity for misalignment between the stamps. Second, when the strip of stamps was fed through the Schermack affixing machine, the cutting blade did not always align with the space between stamps.
Census no. 482A-CAN-11. Ex Geisler. With 1966 and 1994 P.F. certificates
5c Carmine, Imperforate, Error (485). Mint N.H. double error in block of 40, large margins all around with full arrow at left, brilliant colorEXTREMELY FINE. A BEAUTIFUL MINT NEVER-HINGED EXAMPLE OF THE 5-CENT CARMINE IMPERFORATE DOUBLE ERROR IN A BLOCK OF 40. AN IMPRESSIVE MULTIPLE.
During the course of production of the normal 2c plate No. 7942, three positions were noted to be defective. The plate was returned to the siderographer, who burnished out the three positions and mistakenly re-entered them using a transfer roll for the 5c stamp. The error passed unnoticed and the sheets were issued to the public Perf 10, Imperforate and Perf 11 (Scott 467, 485 and 505). The imperforate is by far the rarest of the three.
Ex Geisler. Scott value as double error in block of twelve
5c Carmine, Imperforate, Error (485). Single error in block of six, bottom center stamp the error, which is Mint N.H., along with top 2c stamps, bottom 2c stamps lightly hinged, brilliant color, large margins, 5c with light natural gum creaseVERY FINE. AN ATTRACTIVE MINT NEVER-HINGED EXAMPLE OF THE 1917 5-CENT CARMINE IMPERFORATE ERROR.
During the course of production of the normal 2c plate No. 7942, three positions were noted to be defective. The plate was returned to the siderographer, who burnished out the three positions and mistakenly re-entered them using a transfer roll for the 5c stamp. The error passed unnoticed and the sheets were issued to the public in Perf 10, Imperforate and Perf 11 formats (Scott 467, 485 and 505). The imperforate is by far the rarest of the three.
With 2008 P.F. certificate. Scott value as Mint N.H. single error
2c Carmine, Ty. II, Coil (491). Pair, intense color, left stamp natural inclusionVERY FINE ORIGINAL-GUM PAIR OF THE 2-CENT ROTARY TYPE II HORIZONTAL COIL, SCOTT 491.
Unlike most other issues, the horizontal coil is actually scarcer than the vertical coil. It was in production for only a short period of time before being replaced by the Type III, Scott 492.
With 2001 P.F. certificate
2c Carmine, Ty. II, Coil (491). Original gum, lightly hinged, brilliant color, well-balanced marginsVERY FINE ORIGINAL-GUM EXAMPLE OF THE 2-CENT ROTARY TYPE II HORIZONTAL COIL, SCOTT 491.
With 2005 P.F. certificate for pair