Sale 1027 — The Natalee Grace Collection of Used U.S. Stamps, Part Two: 1869 to Pan-American Issues
Sale Date — Wednesday, 19 September, 2012
Category — 1895 Watermarked Bureau Issue (Scott 264-278)
$5.00 Dark Green (278). Wide margins for this difficult issue with precise centering, rich color and detailed impression on bright paper, long and full perforations all around, light strike of oval registry cancelEXTREMELY FINE GEM. AN ABSOLUTELY STUNNING USED EXAMPLE OF THE 1895 $5.00 WATERMARKED BUREAU ISSUE, WHICH HAS BEEN GRADED SUPERB 98 BY P.S.E. -- THIS IS THE HIGHEST GRADE AWARDED TO DATE.
The $5.00 stamps were generally used on heavy parcels, high-value registered covers or philatelic covers. Heavy parcels and registered package wrappers were usually discarded, and the high-denomination stamps were typically heavily cancelled. Only one cover is known bearing this issue -- a philatelic registered use to Bohemia with a single stamp cancelled by a circular datestamp. The stamp offered here, cancelled by an oval registry, with perfect centering and in pristine condition, is truly remarkable.
With 2000 P.F. and 2009 P.S.E. certificates (Superb 98; SMQ $10,700.00). This is the highest grade awarded to date and only two others share this grade.
