1c-25c Parcel Post, Darrah Ty. III Overprint (Q1 var-Q9 var). Complete set of the nine known values, most tropicalized original gum, few original gum, bright and fresh colors throughout

VERY GOOD-VERY FINE. A RARE COMPLETE UNUSED SET OF THE ONE-CENT TO 25-CENT PARCEL POST ISSUE WITH DARRAH TYPE III OVERPRINT.

According to philatelic lore, John Darrah, the U.S. postal agent in China in 1913, colluded with some stamp collectors and overprinted one sheet each of the stamps in stock at the agency (we doubt this applies to the printed varieties). As this was unauthorized he was ordered by Washington not to sell them. He complied with the order, but some had already reached collectors.

A Power Search review found one other complete unused set, offered in our 2013 sale of the Diamond Collection (Sale 1060, lot 3004, realized $5,250 hammer)

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