Sale 1090 — United States, Possessions and Confederate States Stamps and Postal History
Sale Date — Wednesday-Friday, 17-19 December, 2014
Category — Sanitary Fairs
Army Relief Bazaar, Albany, 10c Rose (WV1). Setting B (wide spacing), complete pane of 25, unused (no gum), small faults incl. a few light creases and some edge nicks (one at top right reinforced by hinge), Very Fine appearance, an extremely scarce complete pane of which only three are recorded
Army Relief Bazaar, Albany N.Y., 10c Black (WV2). Original gum, h.r., showing large portions of the outer frameline on each side, Very Fine, a particularly scarce stamp with original gum, about 30 examples are believed to exist, ex Lyons, with 2000 P.S.E. certificate
Brooklyn and Long Island Sanitary Fair, (15c) Green (WV4). Original gum, h.r., full margins to just touching at left, rich color, small thins, appears Fine, with 2004 A.P.S. certificate
Brooklyn Sanitary Fair, 5c Black on Rosy Buff (WV6). Unused (no gum), margins slightly cutting into framelines, thin, appears Fine
Brooklyn Sanitary Fair, 10c Green (WV7). Unused (no gum), margins cut evenly along framelines, faint paper wrinkle at top right, otherwise Fine and scarce, only 25-30 examples are thought to exist, ex Lyons, with 2000 P.S.E. certificate
Metropolitan Fair, New York N.Y., 10c Red (WV9). Part original gum, h.r., large margins to clear of frameline at top, creased and thinned, appears Fine, rare with fewer than 20 examples believed to exist, with 2005 A.P.S. certificate
Great Central Fair, Philadelphia, Schernikow Reprint Die Proofs on Glazed Card (WV12R). Six of the 20c values, all different with a range of colors and card tinting, bright and fresh colors, Very Fine
Soldier's Fair, Stamford Conn., 15c Pale Brown (WV15). Eight stamps arranged in their original block positions, each has full original gum, small h.r., full margins all around and very freshAN OUTSTANDING AND EXTREMELY RARE ASSEMBLAGE. SEVEN OF THESE EIGHT SINGLES FORM THE FAMOUS ACKERMAN-PERRY-KANTOR BLOCK PURCHASED AT THE STAMFORD FAIR BY ALVEY AUGUSTUS ADEE -- THE EIGHTH SUBSEQUENTLY ADDED.
The history of this extraordinary reconstructed multiple is told in a letter written to the Kantors by Elliott Perry (January 8, 1969): "...the owner showed me an envelope containing 7 Stamfords and told me they had been a block which he cut shortly before I arrived. He kept one and sold me the others. At that time the only genuine copy I had seen was the copy I got from Luff. I don't recall the collector's name, but believe he was a nephew of Alvin A. Adee, a well-known official in the State Department whose home had been in Stamford. Evidently Adee had gone to the Fair and bought about a dollar's worth of the stamps." Perry had been sent by Senator Ackerman to acquire the collection cited in this letter, and it is assumed that the Stamford stamps were added to Ackerman's collection of Sanitary Fairs, which was later sold to Perry.
The seventh stamp from the original block mentioned in Perry's letter was never included in the Kantor reconstruction (see book, Fig. 151), despite the fact that it was right there in the Kantor collection. This oversight is no doubt due to the prevailing assumption that the sheet configuration was two across and four rows high (eight stamps). When Perry was shown the singles, he probably did not attempt to reconstruct the block, assuming that the stamp retained by the owner was cut from within the two-by-four arrangement. Working on this assumption, one would not normally think of matching the right side of a seventh stamp with the left side of the bottom stamp in the Ackerman-Perry block. However, doing so proves conclusively that the "missing" seventh stamp, ex Severn, is the one shown here. The eighth example, was subsequently added by the current owner.
There are a total of thirteen recorded Stamford Soldier's Fair stamps - eight in this reconstructed block, one other unused copy, and four used copies. Its rarity is attributable to the fair's location and brief three-day duration.
This is one of the rarest of all Sanitary Fair issues and an extraordinary opportunity to acquire the majority of existing copies, which were ensconsed in the Ackerman, Perry, Severn and Kantor collections since their discovery 80 years ago until sold in Siegel Sale 766 in 1995.
The latest addition (top left example) with 2007 P.F. certificate. Scott Retail as singles
Sanitary Fairs Balance. Small balance of six items, incl. WV1 unused (ex Lyons), WV3 original gum, WV8 pair unused, WV8 unused, WV11 and WV13 used each with 2005 A.P.S. certificates, some minor faults, Fine-Very Fine appearance, a nice group, Scott Retail more than $2,400.00