Sale 1028 — The Natalee Grace Collection of Used U.S. Stamps, Part Three: 1902 and Later Issues
Sale Date — Thursday, 20 September, 2012
Category — 1923 and Later Issues (Scott 597-613)
2c Carmine, Joint Line Pair, Ty. I, II (599-599A). Left stamp Type II, right stamp Type I, bold strikes of "Chicago Ill. 301" oval registry cancels, choice centering for this issueVERY FINE AND CHOICE. A RARE SOUND AND CENTERED JOINT LINE PAIR OF THE 2-CENT ROTARY PRESS COIL COMBINING TYPES I AND II. THIS IS AN EXTREMELY DIFFICULT COMBINATION JOINT LINE PAIR TO OBTAIN IN SOUND CONDITION AND WITH DECENT CENTERING -- THIS IS THE ONLY SOUND AND CENTERED PAIR CONTAINED IN POWER SEARCH.
According to the Armstrong book, the Type I, Scott 599, was produced starting in 1923. In 1929 the Bureau experimented with a new method of making plates. It became necessary to retouch the die, most notably in the hair, creating Type II (Scott 599A and 634A). Combination joint line pairs exist because two plates of 170 subjects were used at one time and for a short period one plate of each type was used.
The existence of the new die wasn't discovered until 1932, almost three years after it was produced. On July 6, 1932, the postage rate for first class mail was changed from 2c to 3c, and demand dropped sharply for 2c stamps. The existence of combination joint line pairs was not discovered until the early 1940's, making them especially scarce -- this is the only sound and centered joint line pair contained in Power Search.
Ex Twigg-Smith. With 1993 P.F. certificate.
