Sale 1028 — The Natalee Grace Collection of Used U.S. Stamps, Part Three: 1902 and Later Issues
Sale Date — Thursday, 20 September, 2012
Category — 1917-19 Perf 11 Unwatermarked Issue (Scott 498-518b)
8c Olive Bister, Perf 10 at Bottom (508c). Brilliant color, choice centering for this difficult issue with wide margins, face-free cancelEXTREMELY FINE. THIS MAY WELL BE THE FINEST EXAMPLE OF THE 1917 8-CENT PERF 10 AT TOP OR BOTTOM IN EXISTENCE. A PHENOMENAL RARITY.
At a certain point during production one of the perforating wheels became defective. In the course of repairs part of one perforation wheel was inadvertently changed from Perf 11 to Perf 10. Based on the physical evidence of surviving copies, this was the nineteenth row of pins on the wheel.
Many examples of the Perf 10 on One Side rarities show transitional perfs from 10 to 11 or from 11 to 10. This is because the out-of-gauge perforation pins would frequently cross the span of more than one stamp, depending on where the wheel contacted the sheet.
The Perf 10 on One Side varieties span both the 1917 Washington-Franklin and 1922-23 Issues. It is interesting to note that, apart from the 2c, there is no duplication of denomination between the issues. This would seem to indicate that the improperly repaired wheel was in use for only a short period of time, as there was little overlap in production of the issues. Based on dates of issue of the basic stamps, this probably occurred early in 1923.
Our census of Scott 508c, available at our website at http://siegelauctions.com/dynamic/census/508c/508c.pdf , contains sixteen certified and two uncertified examples of this rarity. Of these 18 copies only eight have regular cancels. Whittling the numbers down even further, three of the eight have faults, and only three of the five sound and handstamp/machine-cancelled copies could be considered well-centered (nos. 10, 15 and the example offered here).
Census No. 508c-CAN-06. Ex Grunin, Schilling, Zoellner and Blumenkopf. With 1998 P.F. certificate.
