Sale 1375 — The Nick Kardasis Collection of the 1869 Pictorial Issue, Part One
Sale Date — Tuesday, 21 April, 2026
Category — The PSE #1 All-Time Finest Set of 1869 Re-issues with Original Gum
3c Blue, Re-Issue (125). Original gum, deep rich color, unusually choice centering for this difficult issue with wide and balanced margins
EXTREMELY FINE GEM. THIS IS WITHOUT QUESTION ONE OF THE FINEST ORIGINAL-GUM EXAMPLES OF THE 3-CENT 1869 PICTORIAL RE-ISSUE IN EXISTENCE. THIS IS THE MOST DIFFICULT DENOMINATION TO OBTAIN IN SUCH SUPERB CONDITION. A STAMP OF THE HIGHEST CALIBER, THIS IS GRADED XF-SUPERB 95 BY P.S.E. — THIS IS THE HIGHEST GRADE AWARDED AND ONLY TWO OTHERS SHARE THIS GRADE.
Original sales figures show that among the 1869 Pictorial Re-Issues, the 3c and 90c stamps accounted for the smallest number of units sold (1,406 and 1,356, respectively). Overall, the 1869s were popular with stamp collectors, far outselling the 1851-60 and 1861-66 Re-Issue sets. However, the 90c stamp's high denomination and the availability of ordinary 3c stamps limited demand. Today, both are rare, and handling over the years has not been kind to most of the surviving examples. The stamp offered here is the finest we have ever encountered.
With 1989 P.F. and 2017 P.S.E. certificates (OGph, XF-Superb 95). This is the highest grade awarded and only two others share this grade. The last in this grade we offered was in our 2009 Whitman sale.
