24c Green & Violet (120). Wide and balanced margins, intense colors and impressions on bright paper, cork cancel

EXTREMELY FINE GEM. A SUPERB USED EXAMPLE OF THE 24-CENT 1869 PICTORIAL ISSUE, WHICH HAS BEEN GRADED SUPERB 98 BY P.S.E. -- THIS IS THE HIGHEST GRADE AWARDED AND THE ONLY EXAMPLE TO ACHIEVE THIS GRADE.

This marvelous used 24c 1869 defies the norms of this issue. Although the space between subjects on the 24c 1869 frame plate provided ample room for perforations, the National Bank Note Co. employees had difficulty applying lines of perforations in a uniform manner. Therefore, stamps with balanced margins on all four sides represent a tiny fraction of the original population. Surviving used examples also show the tendency of postal clerks to zealously cancel high-denomination stamps that were typically used on mail to foreign countries or on heavy registered letters. In this stamp we have a degree of perfection rarely achieved by the manufacturer and a fortuitously merciful cancellation, leaving most of the design unobscured.

Ex Senchuk. With 2009 P.S.E. certificate (Superb 98; SMQ $13,000.00). This is the highest grade awarded and the only example to achieve this grade.

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