Sale 1201 — The Dr. William H. Johnson Collection of the U.S. 1890 Small Bank Note Issue
Sale Date — Tuesday, 21 May, 2019
Category — Die Proofs
1c-90c 1890-93 Issue, Panama-Pacific Small Die Proofs on Wove (219P2a-229P2a). Complete set of eleven, bright colors, 6c small flaw at left outside of design, few with small translucencies from hinges, usual slight overall toningVERY FINE APEARANCE. AN EXTREMELY RARE COMPLETE SET OF PANAMA-PACIFIC SMALL DIE PROOFS FOR THE 1890-93 ISSUE.
From February 20 to December 4, 1915, the Panama-Pacific Exposition was held in San Francisco, to commemorate Balboa's discovery of the Pacific Ocean and to celebrate the opening of mankind's greatest engineering achievement, the Panama Canal.
The Post Office Department decided to prepare a limited number of proof sets showing every United States stamp printed up to the time of the Exposition. A total of 413 different designs were made. Only two sets were officially prepared, but it is widely recognized that between 3 and 5 of each were made. These included Officials, Newspapers and Periodicals, Philippines and other special use stamps.
