3c Blue, Re-Issue (125). Mint N.H., well-centered for this difficult issue with margins clear on all sides, rich color and proof-like impression

VERY FINE. AN INCALCULABLY RARE MINT NEVER-HINGED EXAMPLE OF THE 3-CENT 1869 PICTORIAL RE-ISSUE. THIS STAMP RANKS AMONG A SMALL HANDFUL OF THE MOST IMPORTANT MINT NEVER-HINGED CLASSIC PERFORATED STAMPS IN EXISTENCE.

Original sales figures show that among the 1869 Pictorial Re-Issues, the 3c accounted for the second-smallest number of units sold (1,406). Overall, the 1869's were popular with stamp collectors, far outselling the 1851-60 and 1861-66 Re-Issue sets. However, the availability of ordinary 3c stamps limited demand, which is why it is so rare today. Handling over the years has not been kind to most of the surviving examples. To encounter a Mint N.H. example of this issue is truly extraordinary, especially since there were never any multiples from which a never-hinged copy could be harvested.

Among great classic perforated United States stamps prior to the Columbian Issue, we can think of only a few other Mint N.H. stamps that would stand in the company of the 3c 1869 Re-Issue offered here. Incredibly, three are from the Alan Whitman collection. They are: the 1857 10c Type II (Scott 32, ex Whitman, Sale 968, lot 45); the 1860 90c Blue (Scott 39, ex Odeneal, Siegel Sale 941, lot 1026); the 1870 12c Bank Note Grilled Issue (Scott 140, ex Whitman, Siegel Sale 968A, lot 180); and the 1870 30c Bank Note Grilled Issue (Scott 154, ex Whitman, Siegel Sale 968A, lot 192). Honorable mention goes to the 7c I Grills from the Scarsdale and Laila collections and the 24c National Bank Note Issue from the Whitman sale.

With 2014 P.S.E. certificate. Unpriced in Scott as Mint N.H.

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