1c Green, Rotary, Perf 11 (594). Vertical pair, extraordinarily choice centering -- the top stamp is almost perfectly centered and the bottom is centered slightly to lower left -- neatly cancelled by machine cancel with circular datestamp on top stamp and wavy lines on bottom, rich color and very fresh, fully formed perforations all around

EXTREMELY FINE-VERY FINE. THIS REMARKABLE PAIR HAS RECENTLY BEEN IDENTIFIED AND CERTIFIED AS THE RARE ONE-CENT 1923 ROTARY COIL WASTE ISSUE, SCOTT 594. IT IS THE ONLY RECORDED VERTICAL PAIR AND CONTAINS ONE OF THE FINEST CENTERED SOUND EXAMPLES OF SCOTT 594.

The 1c Green, Scott 594, is waste from a horizontal rotary printing used to make coils. At the beginning or end of a coil-stamp print run from the 170-subject rotary plates, some leading or trailing paper was produced that was too short for rolling into 500-stamp rolls. In 1919 the Bureau devised a plan to salvage this waste by perforating and cutting the sheets into panes. They were put through the 11-gauge flat-plate perforator in use at the time, giving the sheets full perforations on all sides. In 1923 coil waste from the new 1c and 2c rotary production was turned into stamps later classified as Scott 578-579 and 594-595. These were the last of the coil-waste issues. The existence of Scott 594 was not reported until four months after the final sheets were delivered, and the 1c Rotary Perf 11 was soon recognized as one of the rarest United States stamps.

There are today approximately 100 confirmed examples of Scott 594. The first major find of this stamp was made in 1934 by Ernest E. Fairbanks, who retrieved nine pairs (18 stamps, one or two damaged) on nine separate covers that were returned by the post office years earlier from a bulk mailing. All were postmarked at New York City on October 4, 1924. The nine Fairbanks covers were cut down into pieces, and today there are perhaps five or six of these pieces intact. Our census of Scott 594 used is available at https://siegelauctions.com/census/US/Scott/594 . This pair is a new discovery and the latest addition to our census. It is the only recorded vertical pair of this 20th Century rarity. There may be three other intact pairs, all horizontal (one on cover).

Census no. 594-CAN-PR-06. With 2020 P.S.A.G. certificate. Scott footnote states that stamps are "valued with perforations just touching frameline on one side" -- both stamps in this pair have perfs well clear of design on all sides.

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