50c Orange (260). Mint N.H. top imprint and plate no. 75 strip of three, perfectly centered with vivid color, small natural inclusion in right margin is inconsequential but mentioned on accompanying certificate

EXTREMELY FINE. ONE OF THE FINEST 50-CENT 1894 BUREAU PLATE STRIPS OF THREE KNOWN. PARTICULARLY RARE IN MINT NEVER-HINGED CONDITION.

The 1894 Issue was the Bureau of Engraving and Printing's first effort at regular stamp production, and they experienced difficulty in applying perforations. This problem, coupled with the fact that only small quantities of high values were printed before watermarked paper was introduced (only 175,000 of the 50c), accounts for the rarity of 50c and dollar-value 1894 Unwatermarked Bureau stamps in choice condition. Plate number multiples are exponentially rarer, and this is perhaps the finest 50c 1894 we have handled. Using Power Search, we located two other Mint N.H. strips, both from the bottom position, including one with perfs touching the design.

Ex Diamond. With 2021 P.F. certificate

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