Sale 1234 — The Gary Petersen Collection of Important United States Stamps
Sale Date — Thursday-Friday, 29-30 April, 2021
Category — Rotary Press Rarities and Later Issues (Scott 594, 596, 613 and Later)
1c Green, Rotary, Perf 11 (596). With "Kansas City Mo." Bureau precancel, dark shade and rich color, fine impression, well-centered for this difficult issue, tiny thin spot at bottom left, small corner crease at top rightVERY FINE APPEARING EXAMPLE OF SCOTT 596, WHICH IS ONE OF THE RAREST STAMPS IN ALL OF UNITED STATES PHILATELY. ONLY 15 ARE RECORDED, OF WHICH ONLY FOUR ARE CONFIRMED AS SOUND.
The discovery of the stamps that would eventually become Scott 596 and 544 was announced in a November 1936 article in the Bureau Specialist by Max Johl. A third rotary press rarity, the 2c Harding (Scott 613), would not be discovered for another two years. Scott 596 is a slightly taller design than both the flat plate printing and the rotary coil waste printing, or Scott 594, due to the direction it was rolled around the rotary press printing cylinder. The "tall stamp" was considered to be a variety of Scott 594, the “wide” Rotary Perf 11; it was given its own Scott number in 1963.
All three issues (Scott 544, 596 and 613) were rotary sheet waste perforated 11 in both directions on the flat plate perforating machine. It is unclear whether they were produced at the same time. Production quality and quantity were very low, due to the rotary press stamps' natural tendency to curl, and the use of the flat plate perforator for the slightly different-sized rotary printing.
Our census of Scott 596, available at https://siegelauctions.com/ census/us/scott/596 , contains 15 stamps, all used or precancelled. None are graded above 70. Only 5 of the 15 have postal cancels, and only one of these is completely sound (number 1, realized $190,000 hammer in our 2009 Whitman sale). Only three precancelled copies are confirmed as sound (numbers 10, 11 and 13). One has not been seen since 1969 (number 6) so its condition has not been verified. Therefore, only one postally cancelled and three precancelled copies are confirmed as sound. The example offered here has trivial unobtrusive flaws and better centering than most.
Census no. 596-CAN-07. Ex Ewing (1940 Harmer, Rooke sale) where described as "uncatalogued variety of 1c and the only known copy". With 1966 and 1998 P.F. certificates
