Sale 1150 — United States Stamps
Sale Date — Wednesday, 1 March, 2017
Category — Officials: State Department
$2.00 State (O68). Original gum, near mathematically precise centering with Jumbo margins, deep rich colors and detailed impressionsEXTREMELY FINE GEM. THIS IS THE FINEST ORIGINAL-GUM EXAMPLE OF THE $2.00 STATE DEPARTMENT ISSUE WE HAVE ENCOUNTERED -- AND AT SUPERB 98 JUMBO, IT IS THE HIGHEST GRADED EXAMPLE OF THE $2.00 OR OF ANY DOLLAR-VALUE STATE DEPARTMENT STAMPS LISTED BY P.S.E.
A Power Search review, as well as a survey of major named Officials sales, failed to find a $2.00 matching the margins and centering of the stamp offered here. The P.S.E. Population Report also bears this out. This stamp is the highest graded of any of the bicolor dollar-value State Department issues. Only one other dollar value has been graded above 90 -- the $5.00 graded 95 Jumbo from our sale of the Rollin C. Huggins collection in 2016. The highest grades awarded by P.S.E. for the dollar value States are as follows:
$2.00 (Scott O68) OGph, Superb 98 Jumbo, the stamp offered here
$5.00 (Scott O69) OGh, XF-Superb 95 Jumbo, ex Huggins (Siegel Sale 1123, lot 592)
$10.00 (Scott O70) OG, XF 90
$20.00 (Scott O71) OG, VF 80
With 1983 P.F. and 2017 P.S.E. certificates (OGph, Superb 98 Jumbo; unpriced in SMQ above the grade of 90J, which bears no relation to the stamp offered here)
