Sale 1227 — Outstanding United States Stamps and Gold Coins
Sale Date — Monday-Friday, 19-23 October, 2020
Category — The Dr. Bernard S. Yudowitz Collection of Plate Blocks (Scott 11A-229)
5c Brown, Ty. II (30A). Right selvage block of nine with most of imprint and plate no. 2, original gum, center stamp Mint N.H., others h.r. with few adherences, bright color, few perf separations sensibly reinforced, few faults mostly confined to bottom stampsFINE-VERY FINE APPEARANCE. AN EXCEEDINGLY RARE ORIGINAL-GUM BLOCK OF NINE OF THE 1860 5-CENT BROWN TYPE II. UNTIL THE APPEARANCE OF THE FRELINGHUYSEN BLOCK OF 20 IN 2012, THIS WAS THE LARGEST RECORDED MULTIPLE. THIS IS ALSO ONE OF ONLY THREE RECORDED PLATE BLOCKS OF THIS ISSUE.
The 5c Brown Type II is far rarer in multiples than the Orange Brown. Unlike the 1861 Orange Brown, the earlier printing in Brown was not left in Southern post offices when the issue was demonetized in August 1861. Prior to the emergence of the block of 20 in the long-hidden Frelinghuysen collection, the largest recorded multiple was a block of nine (two known, one ex Klein and Gross with a portion of the imprint and plate number, the other offered here). A block of six with imprint and part plate number is also known.
Ex Worthington, Silsby and Curtis. Scott value $37,250.00 as block of four, strip of three and pair with no premium for the Mint N.H. stamp or the imprint and plate number position.
