ROMANIA, 1930 2l Bright Blue, Air Post, Overprint Inverted (C8 var; Michel 372Y var; Sanabria 8a). Pane of 50 (no selvage), Positions 31 and 32 the errors, original gum, minor gum staining where the two stamps were reattached to the sheet by the printer

VERY FINE. THE ONLY TWO EXAMPLES OF THE 1930 2-LEI KING CAROL II CORONATION WITH INVERTED OVERPRINT EVER PRODUCED.

The circumstances surrounding the creation of this error are most unusual. In June 1930, Carol returned to Romania to claim title to King from his son Michael. It was hastily decided to prepare stamps for the occasion. However, there was no time to print new stamps, so it was decided that unused sheets of several stamps, including the 1928 Airmail set of three, were to be overprinted "8 JUNIE 1930" to serve as coronation stamps. Just before this sheet was to be overprinted, it was noticed that two stamps (positions 31 and 41) had been detached from the sheet, and so the printer used gummed paper to reattach them. In doing so, he inadvertently attached them upside-down, thus creating two of the world's rarest airmail stamps. Inverted overprints usually occur when the entire pane is placed in an upside-down position prior to overprinting, in which every stamp in the pane is an invert error. In fact, we know of no other instance where one or more stamps in a pane had fallen off and were reattached upside-down prior to overprinting. In such cases, the stamps would have been either overprinted without the missing stamps, or the sheet discarded entirely before overprinting.

This pane's whereabouts were largely unknown until its first public appearance in 1980, though it is widely speculated to have been part of King Carol II's personal collection. It is listed in the 1966 Sanabria Airmail Catalogue, where it is correctly noted as only two printed. It is also signed by A. Brun and R. Zoscsak, so it must have been known to at least some well-connected experts prior to 1980.

Although the error has been well-known for decades, we are unaware of it being listed in any catalogue other than Sanabria. It was priced in the 1966 Sanabria catalogue at $1,000.00 each, or $2,000.00 for both errors. By comparison, the most valuable Air Post stamp, the United States Inverted Jenny was priced at $15,000.00. Since very fine examples of the Inverted Jenny currently sell at 20-times (or more) of the 1966 price, it would suggest our estimate to be quite conservative. Its last public offering was in the 1996 Christie's sale of Herbert Klein's estate. It was purchased at that sale by Professor George Rusu. It was last publicly shown at World Stamp Expo 2000 as part of Prof. Rusu's "Man's History of Flight" exhibit. We are now offering it on behalf of the Rusu estate.

Signed A. Brun and Koscsak. With 1981 Friedl (Herbert Bloch) certificate, noting that this is the basis for the Sanabria listing.

Image Magnifier / Download

View PDF of certificate

Power Search for Comparables