Sale 1332 — United States Stamps
Sale Date — Tuesday-Thursday, 8-10 October, 2024
Category — Imprint and Plate Number Multiples: 1910-20 Issues
4c Brown (377). Mint N.H. wide top imprint and plate no. 6010 block of six, rich color, Extremely Fine, the top stamps are Gems
5c Blue (378). Mint N.H. wide top imprint, plate no. 5653 and star block of six, deep rich color, well-balanced margins, fresh and Very Fine, surprisingly scarce in such choice condition
8c Olive Green (380). Mint N.H wide top imprint and plate no. 4923 block of six, lovely pastel shade, Very Fine and choice
ADDENDA: There are a few minor perf separations that have been sensibly reinforced. Scott value as hinged $1,100
8c Olive Green (380). Wide bottom imprint, plate no. 5233 and star block of six, original gum, most stamps Mint N.H., bright shade, Very Fine
8c Olive Green (380). Top imprint, plate no. 4860 and star block of six, original gum, bit heavily hinged, Fine
10c Yellow (381). Wide top imprint, plate no. 5220 and star block of six, original gum, h.r., vibrant color, Very Fine, red backstamps
10c Yellow (381). Bottom imprint and plate no. 4940 block of six, original gum, couple small h.r., brilliant color, Fine-Very Fine
15c Pale Ultramarine (382). Left imprint and plate no. 4951 block of six, original gum, bottom four stamps Mint N.H., Fine
1c Green, 2c Carmine, Panama-Pacific (397-398). Full top plate no. 6131 (1c) and 6442 (2c) blocks of six, 1c with especially wide top, original gum, 1c very lightly hinged, 2c Mint N.H. except where perfs reinforced at the top selvage (catalogued as hinged), brilliant colors, 2c with natural inclusion in the selvage, Very Fine
2c Carmine, Panama-Pacific (398). Mint N.H. left plate no. 6307 block of six, well-centered, fresh and bright, Extremely Fine
5c Blue, Panama-Pacific (399). Right plate no. 6138 block of six, original gum, five stamps Mint N.H., middle right stamp small h.r., blue accounting crayon in selvage, Fine-Very Fine
5c Blue, Panama-Pacific (399). Top plate no. 6129 block of six, original gum, lightly hinged, intense color and impression, Very Fine
2c Carmine, Panama-Pacific, Perf 10 (402). Mint N.H. wide left plate no. 7034 block of six, brilliant color, choice centering throughout, Extremely Fine
7c Black (407). Mint N.H. bottom plate no. 6919 block of six, intense shade on bright paper, Fine, this example has wider bottom selvage than any others listed in Power Search since our 2003 "Silver Lake" sale
7c Black (407). Top plate no. 6919 block of six, original gum, barest trace of hinging, intense shade on bright paper, few sensibly reinforced perf separations at top of selvage, Very Fine
10c Orange Yellow (416). Mint N.H. top imprint, plate no. 5770 and letter "A" block of six, brilliant color, Fine
12c Claret Brown (417). Mint N.H. bottom plate no. 6902 block of six, rich color and well-centered, natural perf disc indent bottom left stamp, Very Fine
30c Orange Red (420). Mint N.H. right plate no. 6917 block of six, vibrant color, fresh and Very Fine, interestingly the majority of plate blocks of this issue we have encountered are right blocks, we have never offered a left block
50c Violet (422). Mint N.H. wide top imprint, plate no. 5749 and letter "A" block of six, h.r. in ungummed selvage, rich color
FINE. A RARE MINT NEVER-HINGED TOP POSITION PLATE BLOCK OF THE 50-CENT PERF 12 DOUBLE-LINE WATERMARKED FRANKLIN ISSUE, SCOTT 422. THIS IS THE ONLY MINT NEVER-HINGED PLATE BLOCK WE HAVE OFFERED SINCE KEEPING COMPUTERIZED RECORDS.
Lewis Kaufman records only nine full top and five bottom plate blocks
3c Deep Violet, "Pink Back" variety (426 var). Bottom plate no. 6755 block of six, Mint N.H. but with large gum skips, well-centered, bright color, clear "pink" on reverse from the aniline color permeating the paper, Very Fine, Scott value as normal plate block $400 as Mint N.H. and $250 as hinged
4c Brown (427). Mint N.H. wide bottom plate no. 6025 block of six, well-centered, fresh and Very Fine, this is by far the widest bottom Mint N.H. example we have offered in 20 years
5c Blue (428). Mint N.H. top plate no. 7235 block of six, intense shade on bright paper, well-proportioned margins, fresh and Very Fine-Extremely Fine
6c Red Orange (429). Mint N.H. right imprint, plate no. 5425 and star block of six, fiery color, Very Fine
7c Black (430). Mint N.H. wide top plate no. 6919 block of six, bottom center stamp two natural perf disc indents, Fine-Very Fine, elusive as a Mint N.H. top plate block, we have offered only one other since 1993, that example also had Fine-Very Fine centering
8c Pale Olive Green (431). Top imprint, plate no. 5725 and letter "A" block of six, original gum, lightly hinged, lovely color, Very Fine and choice
9c Salmon Red (432). Mint N.H. top plate no. 6915 block of six, bright color, Fine
10c Orange Yellow (433). Top plate no. 7205 block of six, original gum, five stamps Mint N.H., top center stamp h.r., Fine
20c Ultramarine (438). Mint N.H. top plate no. 6926 block of six, bright color, faint crease in top left selvage, Fine-Very Fine and rare, we have not offered a Mint N.H. example of this issue with better than Fine-Very Fine centering since 2008 (that example realized $14,000)
2c Pale Carmine Red, Ty. I (461). Mint N.H. wide top plate no. 7264 block of six, bright color, fresh and Fine-Very Fine
2c Pale Carmine Red, Ty. I (461). Mint N.H. top plate no. 7259 block of six, brilliant color, faint pencil in top left selvage not noted on certificate, Very Fine and choice, an attractive Mint N.H. plate block with 2023 P.S.E. certificate
4c Orange Brown (465). Bottom plate no. 7348 block of six, original gum, four outer stamps Mint N.H., Fine-Very Fine
5c Blue (466). Mint N.H. left plate no. 7789 block of six, bottom left stamp natural gum skip, tiny tear at left edge of selvage at bottom, Very Fine, this is an incredibly elusive plate block in Mint N.H. condition, the last we offered was a left plate block in 2014, which realized $2,100 hammer (with inferior centering), prior to that we offered a top plate block in 2008 which realized $11,500 hammer
5c Carmine, Error (467). Double error in Mint N.H. block of 30, with selvage with plate no. 7942 at left, Very Fine, desirable with the plate number selvage, Scott value as Mint N.H. double error in block of twelve
7c Black (469). Top plate no. 7718 block of six, original gum, intense shade and impression, Very Fine
7c Black (469). Left plate no. 7718 block of six, original gum, five stamps Mint N.H., just the stamp next to the plate no. hinged, Fine
8c Olive Green (470). Right imprint, plate no. 5724 and letter "A" block of six, original gum, lightly hinged, Fine
9c Salmon Red (471). Mint N.H. bottom plate no. 6907 block of six, outstanding centering, two small spots of black offset on gum, Extremely Fine
9c Salmon Red (471). Bottom plate no. 6915 block of six, original gum, few h.r., vibrant color, unusually choice centering throughout, Extremely Fine
11c Dark Green (473). Mint N.H. wide top plate no. 7498 block of six, rich color, Very Fine, this is only the third Mint N.H. top plate block we have offered in the past 15 years
15c Gray (475). Top plate no. 6819 block of six, original gum, bottom stamps Mint N.H., top stamps lightly hinged, brilliant color, Very Fine, a scarce plate block, we have offered only about a dozen since keeping computerized records and only one was a wide top plate position but it had only part original gum
$2.00 Dark Blue (479). Mint N.H. wide top plate no. 8015 block of six, rich color on bright paper, attractive centering
VERY FINE. A RARE MINT NEVER-HINGED WIDE TOP PLATE NUMBER BLOCK OF SIX OF THE $2.00 MADISON PERF 10.
Very few exist with such wide top selvage.
$5.00 Light Green (480). Mint N.H. top plate no. 8016 block of six, selvage reduced, rich color, Fine-Very Fine
$5.00 Light Green (480). Wide top plate no. 8016 block of six, unused (regummed), rich color, Very Fine
$5.00 Light Green (480). Top plate no. 8016 block of six, original gum, very lightly hinged, rich color, fresh and Fine-Very Fine
15c Gray (514). Mint N.H. top plate no. 7929 block of six, fresh and Very Fine
20c Light Ultramarine (515). Mint N.H. top plate no. block of six, plate number partially printed, slightly uneven "gum rivers" and pencil notation on back of ungummed selvage, still Very Fine
30c Orange Red (516). Mint N.H. bottom plate no. 6927 block of six, vibrant color, Extremely Fine, a remarkably fresh Mint N.H. plate block
50c Red Violet (517). Mint N.H, full top plate no. 7057 block of six, fresh color on bright paper, well-balanced margins, Very Fine-Extremely Fine, this is a surprisingly difficult plate block to obtain from the top position in Mint N.H. condition with such choice centering
50c Red Violet (517). Mint N.H. bottom plate no. 13654 block of six, light gum bend top right stamp, well-centered, Very Fine
$1.00 Violet Brown (518). Bottom imprint, plate no. 5782 and letter "A" block of six, original gum, four outer stamps Mint N.H., nicely centered, Very Fine
2c Carmine (519). Mint N.H. left imprint and plate no. 4856 block of six, brilliant color, pencil notation on gum of bottom left stamp
FINE-VERY FINE. A RARE MINT NEVER-HINGED PLATE BLOCK OF THE 2-CENT WASHINGTON ISSUE, SCOTT 519.
This stamp was created in 1917 when a small excess supply of the imperforate, double-line watermarked Scott 344 was returned by the New York City post office to the Bureau for credit. Rather than issue the credit, the Bureau perforated the sheets using the then current Perf 11 wheels and returned them to the New York City post office for public sale.
A Power Search review reveals how rare Scott 519 is in Mint N.H. plate block form. We have sold only five other unduplicated examples since keeping computerized records — four from the left position and one from the bottom. We have not offered a top position plate block in any gum condition.
With 1969 P.F. certificate.
$2.00 Orange Red & Black (523). Top plate nos. 8179/8177 and arrow block of eight, original gum, may be unhinged, but there are a few large natural gum skips and it may be faintly hinged in the ungummed selvage (catalogued as hinged), bright color
FRESH AND FINE-VERY FINE. A SCARCE PLATE BLOCK OF THE 1918 $2.00 ORANGE RED & BLACK.
The $2.00 and $5.00 1918 Issue are the first bi-colored dollar-denominated postage stamps issued by the United States. Both were released just three months after the famous 1918 24c Inverted Jenny, but the early printings were issued in small quantities, since stocks of the earlier $2.00 and $5.00 issues were still on hand.
According to Johl, the $2.00 Orange Red & Black was a color error on the part of the Bureau of Engraving & Printing. The official description and order for the bi-color stamps specified "Red and Black" for the $2.00. When subsequent printings appeared in 1920 and philatelists brought the matter to the attention of the Bureau, they were told "this stamp has always been this color" (Johl, p. 306). From studies of Bureau and Post Office records, it is clear that the originally-intended color was not issued until November 1920 (Scott 547), and that the earlier Orange Red stamps were mistakes. The quantity issued has been variously estimated at between 47,000 and 68,000.
$5.00 Deep Green & Black (524). Top plate nos. 8179/8178 and arrow block of eight, stamps Mint N.H., hinged only in the ungummed portion of the selvage, deep vibrant color
VERY FINE. AN ATTRACTIVE PLATE BLOCK OF EIGHT OF THE 1918 $5.00 ISSUE.
This issue was printed from single frame (8178) and vignette (8179) plates.
2c Carmine Rose, Ty. IV, Imperforate (532). Mint N.H., top plate no. 10918 block of six, huge margins and bright color, Extremely Fine Gem
2c Carmine, Ty. V, Imperforate (533). Mint N.H. top plate no. 11260 block of six, huge margins all around including part of seven adjoining stamps, brilliant color, Extremely Fine Gem, a phenomenal plate block
2c Carmine, Ty. V, Imperforate (533). Left plate no. 11260 block of six, original gum, bottom pair Mint N.H. and with gum bends, Extremely Fine
2c Carmine, Ty. VI, Imperforate (534A). Mint N.H., top plate no. 11710 block of six, large margins and bright color, natural gum bends, Extremely Fine
3c Violet (537). Mint N.H. wide top plate no. F9413 block of six, pretty shade, Extremely Fine
1c Green, Rotary (545). Mint N.H. top plate no. 13611 block of four, Very Fine for this difficult and elusive Mint N.H. plate block, we have offered only a handful of others since 1993
$2.00 Carmine & Black (547). Complete sheet of 100 with selvage all around and double plate nos. at top, precancelled with Paterson N.J. roller cancel, selvage faults and "V" shaped piece out of selvage at top, perf separations as would be expected and some wrinkling, still Fine and extremely rare cancelled full sheet, Scott value as singles $4,000
Correction: It is not a Paterson roller cancel. It is a 25-subject government supplied Precancel handstamp, Precancel Stamp Society type 466, applied four times to the sheet.
5c Deep Blue, Pilgrim Tercentenary (550). Mint N.H. wide left plate no. 12426 block of six, fresh and Fine