12c Intense Black, First Design (59). Original gum, lightly hinged with slight offset from 10c Green stamp (probably the 10c First Design, distributed along with this stamp), choice centering for this difficult issue with perfs well clear of the design on all sides, intense shade and detailed impression

EXTREMELY FINE GEM. THIS IS WITHOUT QUESTION ONE OF THE FINEST ORIGINAL-GUM EXAMPLES OF THE 1861 12-CENT FIRST DESIGN IN EXISTENCE. THIS IS THE CELEBRATED LILLY-SEYMOUR COPY, WHICH IS OFFERED TO THE MARKET FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE OUR 1970 SEYMOUR AUCTION.

The 12c is the rarest of the 1861 First Designs and Colors, with a total of 16 examples recorded, including one in the Miller collection at The New York Public Library. Our census of the 12c 1861 First Design is available at http://www.siegelauctions.com/enc/census/59.pdf . Of the 15 copies available to collectors, only eight have full original gum. Of these eight only three are sound (Census No. 09, which has slightly disturbed gum, No. 15 and this stamp, No. 10). Only one of the no-gum stamps is sound (Census No. 06). Apart from soundness, the stamp offered here is also one of the best-centered.

Census No. 59-OG-10. Ex Lilly and A. T. Seymour. With 1949 and 2016 P.F. certificates. Offered to the market for the first time since 1970.

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