4c Brown, Imperforate, Schermack Ty. III Private Perforation (314A). Pair, original gum, left stamp Mint N.H., right stamp barest trace of hinging, rich color, proof-like impression, beautiful centering between top and bottom coil margins, Schermack perfs just barely in at right

EXTREMELY FINE. A MAGNIFICENT PAIR OF THE RARE 4-CENT 1908 IMPERFORATE. THIS PAIR CONTAINS ONE OF ONLY TWO KNOWN MINT NEVER-HINGED EXAMPLES OF THIS GREAT RARITY -- ONLY FOUR PAIRS, TWO LINE PAIRS AND NINE SINGLES ARE KNOWN IN UNUSED CONDITION.

Our census of unused Scott 314A, available at https://siegelauctions.com/census/us/scott/314A , records four intact pairs, two guide line pairs and nine singles, for a total of 21 unused stamps. One of the singles is in the Miller collection owned by The New York Public Library. There are only 32 used singles (two on piece), two used strips of three (one in NYPL collection), a used pair and four covers (one of which bears a strip of three), for a total of 46 used stamps.

With the rising popularity of vending and affixing machines, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing received numerous requests from manufactures for supplies of imperforate stamps, which could then be privately perforated to conform to each firm's machine. In May 1908, a supply of 25 sheets (400 stamps per sheet) of the 4c 1902 Issue, without perforations, was delivered to the Schermack Mailing Machine Co. in Detroit. The entire supply was cut into coils with Schermack Type III perforations, designed for the firm's patented affixing machine and delivered to the Winfield Printing Co. for use on mass mailings of advertising material. Approximately 6,000 were used on a mailing for Hamilton Carhartt Manufacturer, and almost all of the 4,000 balance were used on a mailing for Burroughs Adding Machine Co.

All of the Scott 314A stamps that exist in unused condition originate from a local Detroit stamp collector, Karl Koslowski, who was the only one to purchase some of the 4c Imperforates--either from the Winfield Printing Company or from the Schermack firm. His earliest account of the event appeared two years later in the Philadelphia Stamp News and is considered to be the most reliable of several conflicting stories told by Koslowski (and interpreted by others) at later dates. In the 1910 article, Koslowski explains that he purchased 50 stamps and expected to be able to buy more, but the supply was destroyed when he returned. We can account for 32 of the 50 stamps Koslowski claims he acquired. There are 21 unused stamps currently in our census, all of which must have come from him, and he used at least 11 stamps on mail to friends, including the strip of three on a Koslowski cover, two used strips of three off cover (the mass mailings were all singles) and two singles on separate Koslowski covers. The earliest known cover is dated at Detroit on May 27, 1908, from Koslowski to a friend in Austria, and the latest is dated April 8, 1909, which was mailed to him using a sheet-margin single from Sicklerville, New Jersey. Apart from the stamps Koslowski used, there is one recorded commercial cover (June 2, 1908) and 32 used single stamps.

The two recorded Mint N.H. examples of Scott 314A come from the ex-Lilly strip of five, which was cut into two pairs and one single by Jack E. Molesworth after it appeared in the 1985 Rarities sale. We shall refer to the stamps in that strip as numbers 1 through 5. Stamp 1 was cut as a single and is described in the 1985 Rarities sale as having slight margin thinning (it is hinged). The pair comprising Stamps 2-3 was sold as part of the Zoellner collection in 1998 and soon after was divided into the Mint N.H. single (Stamp 2) and hinged single (Stamp 3). The pair comprising Stamps 4-5 is offered here. The left stamp is Mint N.H.

Census no. 314A-OG-PR-01. Ex Koslowski, Schmalzreidt, Col. Edward H. R. Green, Lilly and B. D. Phillips as part of a strip of five, and ex "Connoisseur" and Whitman in its present form. With 1985 and 2003 P.F. certificates (the former as a strip of four). Scott value as Mint N.H. and hinged singles

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