Sale 1255 — The David W. Gorham Collection of Outstanding Used U.S. Stamps
Sale Date — Tuesday-Friday, 17-20 May, 2022
Category — 1875 Re-Issue of 1861-66 Issue (Scott 102-111)
15c Black, Re-Issue (108). Detailed impression on crisp paper, bold strike of "2" in oval grid duplex cancel of New YorkVERY FINE AND CHOICE. A RARE SOUND USED EXAMPLE OF THE 15-CENT 1866 RE-ISSUE. ONLY SIXTEEN ARE RECORDED IN OUR CENSUS.
The 15c Re-Issue was printed from the original plate of 200 subjects. 10,000 stamps were printed (50 impressions). Only 397 of the 15c were sold; the remaining 9,603 were destroyed on July 16, 1884.
Our census of Scott 108 used, at https://siegelauctions.com/census/us/scott/107 , records only sixteen examples.
Census no. 108-CAN-13. Ex Merlin. With 2011 P.S.E. certificate (F-VF 75). Only two used copies are graded (both at 75). The SMQ value of $26,000.00 -- less than Scott -- is misleading, since there is no example of Scott 108 graded higher than F-VF 75, and the stamp offered here is Very Fine by any standards and historically Extremely Fine for this issue. Even by P.S.E. standards, this stamp should grade VF 80, but we feel that they punish 1861 Re-Issues because of the normal grid and oval cancellations.
