Sale 968 — The Alan B. Whitman Collection of Outstanding United States Stamps
Sale Date — Tuesday-Wednesday, 27-28 January, 2009
Category — 1861 First Designs and Colors (Scott 55-61)
1c Indigo, First Design (55). Original gum, small h.r., deep rich color, intense impression, wide margins on three sides, top perfs slightly into oval as they are on virtually all known examplesVERY FINE AND FRESH. ONE OF ONLY EIGHT AVAILABLE SOUND AND ORIGINAL-GUM EXAMPLES OF THE 1861 ISSUE ONE-CENT FIRST DESIGN. A PHENOMENAL RARITY.
Our census of the 1c 1861 First Design (available at http://www.siegelauctions.com/enc/census/55.pdf ) contains a total of 24 examples. Of these, one is in the Miller collection at The New York Public Library and two are cancelled. Of the remaining 21 original-gum copies, only eight are completely sound.
Census No. 55-OG-13. Ex Zoellner. With 1950 and 1998 P.F. certificates
3c Brown Rose, First Design (56). Mint N.H., with sheet selvage at right, intense shade (slightly oxidized), choice centering with wide margins, Extremely Fine, with 1999 P.F. certificate not mentioning oxidation, Scott Retail as hinged
12c Intense Black, First Design (59). Original gum, lightly hinged, intense shade and detailed impression on crisp paper, unusually choice centering, two insignificant partly nibbed perfs at bottom not mentioned on any certificateEXTREMELY FINE. THIS IS WITHOUT QUESTION ONE OF THE THREE FINEST OF THE FIFTEEN RECORDED EXAMPLES OF THE 12-CENT 1861 ISSUE FIRST DESIGN. ONLY THREE SOUND EXAMPLES ARE AVAILABLE WITH UNDISTURBED ORIGINAL GUM.
The 12c is the rarest of the 1861 First Designs and Colors, with a total of 16 examples recorded, including one in the Miller collection at The New York Public Library. Our census of the 12c 1861 First Design (http://www.siegelauctions.com/enc/census/59.pdf ) contains six sound copies, including the Miller stamp. Of the five sound copies available to collectors, only four have original gum, including one with slightly disturbed original gum. The three available sound original-gum stamps are 59-OG-11 (offered here), 59-OG-15 (ex Zoellner) and 59-OG-10.
Census No. 59-OG-11. Ex Lessmann, Hewitt and Concord. With 1971, 1984 and 2006 P.F. certificates
24c Dark Violet, First Color (60). Original gum, lightly hinged, intense shade in the true Dark Violet First Color, remarkably detailed impression, choice centering for this difficult issueEXTREMELY FINE GEM. A SUPERB EXAMPLE OF THE 1861 24-CENT DARK VIOLET EARLY TRIAL PRINTING. ONE OF THE RAREST OF THE 24-CENT 1861-63 ISSUE SHADES.
The Dark Violet trial printing and Violet regular issue shades are often confused, and the Scott Catalogue adds to the confusion by putting the Dark Violet (the old Scott 60) in the Trial Color Proofs section as 70TCe, while the Violet gets a front seat as Scott 70c. In our opinion, there is no good reason to relegate the Dark Violet to the Trial Color Proof section. As a result, the stamp offered here is undercatalogued in relation to other 24c stamps of equal rarity. For example, Scott 70c has a value of $35,000.00 versus Scott 70TCe at $12,500.00.
With 1986 and 1995 P.F. certificates
30c Red Orange, First Color (61). Original gum, beautiful shade and impression, choice centering for this difficult issue, full perforations all aroundEXTREMELY FINE. THIS IS WITHOUT QUESTION ONE OF THE FINEST ORIGINAL-GUM EXAMPLES OF THE RARE 30-CENT 1861 FIRST COLOR. AN EXTREMELY RARE STAMP IN COMPLETELY SOUND CONDITION.
Our census of the 30c 1861 First Color (available at http://siegelauctions.com/enc/census/61.pdf ) contains a total of 30 examples, including one in the Miller collection at The New York Public Library. A characteristic common to most examples of the 30c 1861 First Color is faint creasing, which in some cases is very severe and in others barely visible. Six stamps with original gum are free of faults, although a few have a trivial nibbed perf or two. All of the sound stamps are centered to one side (as are most of the others). Our October 28, 2008 auction of the Perry Hansen Collection contained one of the others (Siegel Sale 963, lot 487), which realized $62,500 hammer.
Census No. 61-OG-02. Ex Lessmann, McNall and Weisman. With 1971 and 1992 P.F. and 1993 P.S.E. certificates.
10c Dark Green, First Design (62B). Original gum, neat hinge mark, intense shade and proof-like impression on bright paper, long and full perforationsEXTREMELY FINE. A RARE SOUND AND EXCEPTIONALLY WIDE-MARGINED ORIGINAL-GUM EXAMPLE OF THE 10-CENT 1861 ISSUE FIRST DESIGN.
The 10c 1861 "First Design" (or Type I from Plate 4) is extremely difficult to find in well-centered, sound, original-gum condition, This is partly due to the narrow spacing on Plate 4, which was used for the earliest printing. For some reason, original-gum copies of this issue tend to have flaws, ranging from creases to tears -- according to Power Search, the last sound original-gum example we sold was in 2002, and before that we have offered only one or two others.
With 1995 and 1997 P.F. and 2008 P.S.E. certificates (OGh, VF 80). This is the highest grade awarded to date.