24c Carmine Rose & Blue, 1918 Air Post, Fast Plane Variety (C3 var). Mint N.H. top arrow, plate nos. 8492/8493 and double "TOP" block of 12, rich colors, each stamp with significant forward vignette shift of the vignette, the top wing of each plane extending well into the Carmine frame and on some the background shading extends into the unprinted margin, top right stamp small natural inclusion

VERY FINE. A RARE MINT NEVER-HINGED PLATE BLOCK OF THE 1918 24-CENT AIR POST ISSUE "FAST PLANE" VARIETY.

The Philatelic Foundation has never published an article defining the criteria for certifying the Fast Plane variety, as they did for the Grounded Plane. The generally accepted definition is a stamp where the wings of the Jenny break clearly into the Carmine frame at left. Like the other shifts, there are degrees of displacement. The two stamps offered in lots 43 and 44 show the wings of the plane shifted well into the unprinted margin and those stamps are the fastest of the Fast Planes -- really they should be called Supersonic Planes. This plate block and the other examples in the Price collection show the top wing of the plane well into the Carmine frame and a few in this block show the shading extending beyond the frame.

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