Sale 1231 — The James P. Myerson Collection of Superb United States Stamps
Sale Date — Tuesday-Wednesday, 9-10 February, 2021
Category — 1893 Columbian Issue (Scott 230-245)
4c Columbian, Error of Color (233a). Mint N.H. with part imprint in selvage at right, deep rich color in the more intense of the two error shades, fresh and bright paperVERY FINE AND CHOICE. THIS IS ONE OF ONLY A VERY FEW MINT NEVER-HINGED EXAMPLES OF THE RARE 4-CENT COLUMBIAN ERROR OF COLOR. NEVER-HINGED COPIES IN THE FIRST, DEEPER SHADE, ARE INCREDIBLY RARE.
The 4c Columbian color error was caused by the use of a wrong batch of ink, and spectrographic analysis has shown that the blue inks of the 4c error and 1c Columbian have the same components. There are two slightly different shades of the 4c error, this being the deeper of the two.
Stamps from at least two panes reached collectors, and the few cancelled examples indicate that stamps used by the public came from other panes. It is likely that a number of full sheets were printed using the wrong ink, and most of the stamps have simply been lost to philately.
Ex Wingate. With copy of 1977 P.F. and with 2002 P.F. certificate
