4c Brown, Imperforate, Schermack Ty. III Private Perforation (314A). Guide line pair, lightly hinged, perfect centering with wide margins and full Schermack perfs which clear the designs of both stamps, deep rich color and proof-like impression

EXTREMELY FINE GEM. THIS IS BY FAR THE FINER OF THE TWO RECORDED GUIDE LINE PAIRS OF THE 4-CENT 1908 IMPERFORATE -- IN FACT, IT IS THE FINEST OF ALL KNOWN MULTIPLES OF THIS MAJOR RARITY. ONE OF THE MOST OUTSTANDING ITEMS OF 20TH CENTURY UNITED STATES PHILATELY. THIS IS A RARE CASE WHERE BOTH RARITY AND CONDITION MEET TO FORM A TRULY OUTSTANDING ITEM.

Our updated census of unused Scott 314A (available at http://www.siegelauctions.com/enc/census/314A.pdf ) records four pairs, two guide line pairs and nine singles, for a total of 21 unused stamps. One of the singles is in the Miller Collection at The New York Public Library. Our unpublished census contains 44 used examples, including three strips of three (one on cover), three singles on separate covers, and 32 single used copies.

With the rising popularity of vending and affixing machines, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing received numerous requests from manufactures for supplies of imperforate stamps, which could then be privately perforated to conform to each firm's machine. In May 1908, a supply of 25 sheets (400 stamps per sheet) of the 4c 1902 Issue, without perforations, was delivered to the Schermack Mailing Machine Co. in Detroit. The entire supply was cut into coils with Schermack Type III perforations, designed for the firm's patented affixing machine and delivered to the Winfield Printing Co. for use on mass mailings of advertising material. Approximately 6,000 were used on a mailing for Hamilton Carhartt Manufacturer, and almost all of the 4,000 balance were used on a mailing for Burroughs Adding Machine Co.

All of the Scott 314A stamps that exist in unused condition originate from a local Detroit stamp collector, Karl Koslowski, who was the only one to purchase some of the 4c Imperforates--either from the Winfield Printing Company or from the Schermack firm. His earliest account of the event appeared two years later in the Philadelphia Stamp News, and is considered to be the most reliable of several conflicting stories told by Koslowski (and interpreted by others) at later dates. In the 1910 article, Koslowski explains that he purchased 50 stamps and expected to be able to buy more, but the supply was destroyed when he returned. We can account for 32 of the 50 stamps Koslowski claims he acquired. There are 21 unused stamps currently in our census, all of which must have come from him, and he used at least 11 stamps on mail to friends, including the strip of three on a Koslowski cover, two used strips of three off cover (the mass mailings were all singles) and two singles on separate Koslowski covers. The earliest known cover is dated at Detroit on May 27, 1908, from Koslowski to a friend in Austria, and the latest is dated April 8, 1909, which was mailed to him using a sheet-margin single from Sicklerville, New Jersey. Apart from the stamps Koslowski used, there is one recorded commercial cover (June 2, 1908) and approximately 32 used single stamps, most of which were probably removed from the mass-mailing covers.

This line pair miraculously escaped having the designs impinged by the large rectangular-shaped Schermack perforations, and the coil margins are superbly balanced at top and bottom. One would never expect any Scott 314A to achieve the P.S.E. XF-Superb 95 grade, but to see one of the two known line pairs reach that zenith is astounding. The other recorded line pair was formerly in the William Wyer collection (Kelleher 1977 sale) and was subsequently sold as part of the Drucker Family collection in 2002 (Siegel Sale 851), where it realized $200,000 hammer.

Ex Clifford C. Cole and Westport collection. With 1988 P.F. and 2008 P.S.E. certificates (OGph, XF-Superb 95; SMQ $720,000.00). The Stamp Market Quarterly lists prices for each of the two known guide line pairs and has assigned a grade of 70 to the other.

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