15c Dark Blue (259). Mint N.H., deep rich color on bright paper, unusually wide margins for this difficult issue

EXTREMELY FINE GEM. WITHOUT QUESTION THIS IS ONE OF THE FINEST MINT NEVER-HINGED EXAMPLES OF THE 15-CENT UNWATERMARKED BUREAU ISSUE IN EXISTENCE.

The 15c 1890 stamp is, in our opinion, one of the most striking designs of the Gilded Age regular issues. Its distinctive three-quarter portrait of Henry Clay is elegantly framed and printed in an extraordinarily deep shade of Indigo Blue. The beauty of the issue is enhanced in examples such as this stamp, which provides a balanced frame of white margins around the design. Further endowed with Mint N.H. gum and unusual freshness, this stamp ranks among the very finest in existence.

With 1999 and 2004 P.F. certificates and 2005 P.S.E. certificate (XF-Superb 95). Only two grade higher (one at 95J, realized $13,000 in 2023, and one at 98, we have never offered it). This is also the only example to achieve the grade of XF-Superb 95.

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