Sale 1024 — The Natalee Grace Collection of Used Stamps of the United States, Part One: 1847-1868 Issues
Sale Date — Thursday, 7 June, 2012
Category — 12c-90c 1857-60 Issue (Scott 36-39)
30c Orange (38). Vibrant color, perfectly centered with unusually wide and balanced margins, neat strike of grid cancel at centerEXTREMELY FINE GEM. EASILY ONE OF THE FINEST USED EXAMPLES OF THE 30-CENT 1860 ISSUE, WITH BRIGHT COLOR, WIDE MARGINS, LONG AND FULL PERFORATIONS AND A CLEAR CANCELLATION. THE 30-CENT IS THE MOST DIFFICULT DENOMINATION OF THE SERIES TO OBTAIN IN SUCH SUPERB CONDITION.
As a detail of the block shown at right demonstrates, the outer projections of the design left little room for perforations. The 30c stamps were not printed and put into use until August 1860 (earliest documented use is August 8). The issue was demonetized twelve months later. The denomination was intended to be used primarily on letters to foreign countries. These circumstances of a short life and limited use, combined with Toppan Carpenter's typically erratic perforating and the narrow space between stamps, are the reasons why superb used examples of the 30c 1860 are so difficult to find.
With 1999 P.F. and 2006 P.S.E. certificates (XF-Superb 95; SMQ $4,750.00).
