15c Dark Blue (274). Bottom imprint and plate no. 52 block of six, original gum, very lightly hinged, deep rich color on fresh paper, gorgeous centering with wide margins

EXTREMELY FINE GEM. A RARE PLATE BLOCK OF THE 1895 15-CENT WATERMARKED BUREAU ISSUE -- AMONG THE FINEST KNOWN.

The 15c was printed from two plates -- numbers 52 and 264. The latter has a different style of imprint. As an indication of rarity, the last examples we sold from either plate were in our 2009 Whitpain sale (top plate block, disturbed original gum) and before that in our 1988 Rarities sale. The Scott Catalogue assigns a 2.7x premium to a plate block versus six singles. The example offered here is a true condition rarity combining color, centering and freshness

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