Maryland Match Co., 1c Blue, Watermarked (RO131d). Showing clear "U" of "USIR" watermark, inverted in relation to orientation of the stamp, deep rich color, expert small repair at top

VERY FINE APPEARANCE. THE CELEBRATED UNIQUE EXAMPLE OF THE ONE-CENT MARYLAND MATCH COMPANY STAMP ON WATERMARKED PAPER. ONE OF THE GREATEST REVENUE RARITIES.

The complete story of the discovery of the Maryland Match Co. stamp on watermarked paper is told in Private Die Match Stamps by Christopher West, the non-de-plume of Elliott Perry. Maryland Match Co. was the successor to the Excelsior Match Co., and the stamps are based on the die used by the former with some alterations. Stamps for the new firm were first issued in 1872 and last issued in 1874, and were printed on silk paper.

The records of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing show that between Sep. 5, 1882, and Feb. 12, 1883, the firm Titlebaum & Macklin ordered just over one million one-cent stamps of this design, all of which were printed on the Bureau's watermarked paper. The watermarked stamps were delivered to the Bureau of Internal Revenue, but apparently were destroyed, except for this sole copy. They may never have been delivered to the match company, since a supply of the silk paper was still on hand.

The story of the discovery of the Maryland Match Co. watermarked stamp is told by Edward Phelps, the first owner of this rarity, who started collecting stamps around 1880 at the age of 12 in Worcester, Massachusetts. His parents were also collectors in non-philatelic fields. His father took a position with the Agriculture Department in Washington starting in 1882, leaving his wife and son in Worcester. Around 1884 or 1885, his father became acquainted with the clerk at the Bureau of Internal Revenue who was in charge of the stamp vaults and destroying obsolete remainders. The clerk told his father that he was in the habit of taking one stamp from each sheet to be destroyed and saving them in an envelope. This envelope was also the source of the unissued Caterson, Brotz & Co, playing card stamp (Scott RU1). The clerk sold the envelope full of stamps to Phelps's father for $25, who then immediately sold the RU1 stamp to a collector for $50. The elder Phelps mounted some on 1874-edition Scott album pages and left some in the original envelope.

In 1891 Edward Phelps visited his father in Washington and took back the stamps with him. He was acquainted with the authors of The Boston Revenue Book, which was published in 1899 and was largely compiled from official records. About a year after the book was published, Phelps came across the addenda in the back of the book detailing the printing by the Bureau on watermarked paper; the book states no copies are known. Phelps checked the stamps obtained by his father from the clerk, and discovered that the Maryland Match Co. stamp was printed on watermarked paper. Phelps also notes that when his collection was sold in 1906, an assistant at the auction company damaged the stamp at top, which has since been repaired.

Ex Edward Phelps, Colonel Green, Clarence Eagle, Morton Dean Joyce and Grant Inman. With 2017 P.F. certificate

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