4c Columbian, Error of Color (233a). Original gum, lightly hinged, breathtaking deep rich color on bright paper, unusually choice centering with Jumbo margins

EXTREMELY FINE. THIS IS EASILY ONE OF THE FINEST ORIGINAL-GUM EXAMPLES OF THE RARE 4-CENT COLUMBIAN ERROR OF COLOR. A MARVELOUS STAMP.

The 4c Columbian color error was caused by the use of a wrong batch of ink, and spectrographic analysis has shown that the blue inks of the 4c error and 1c Columbian have the same components.

Stamps from at least two panes reached collectors, and the few cancelled examples indicate that stamps used by the public came from other panes. It is likely that a number of full sheets were printed using the wrong ink, and most of the stamps have simply been lost to philately.

Ex Hetherington. With 1951 P.F. and 2006 P.S.E. certificates (VF-XF 85 Jumbo; the highest grade priced by SMQ is VF 80 at $37,000.00). The P.S.E. population report lists one example in the grade of 85 and one in the grade of 90.

Image Magnifier / Download

PSE Population Report

Market data

Power Search for Comparables