Sale 972 — The Laila Collection of United States Stamps
Sale Date — Monday-Tuesday, 27-28 April, 2009
Category — 1918-20 and Later Issues (Scott 525-679)
2c Harding, Rotary Perf 11 (613). Well-centered with unusually wide margins for this printing, sharp impression, bold wavy-line machine cancelFRESH AND EXTREMELY FINE. ONE OF THE FINEST SINGLES OF THE 44 2-CENT HARDING ROTARY PERF 11 STAMPS RECORDED IN OUR CENSUS.
Our census of the 2c Harding Rotary Perf 11 at our website at www.siegelauctions.com/dynamic/census/613/613.pdf ) records 43 used singles (one faintly cancelled, if at all), one used pair and a newly-discovered used strip of three. Of the singles, approximately 30 are sound, but of these only six rate a grading of Very Fine or Extremely Fine. The stamp offered here is unquestionably in the finest existing condition and is rivalled only by two or three others.
The 2c Harding Rotary Perf 11 stamp was discovered in 1938 by Leslie Lewis of the New York firm, Stanley Gibbons Inc. Gary Griffith presents his hypothesis in United States Stamps 1922-26 that rotary-printed sheets of 400 were first reduced to panes of 100 and then fed through the 11-gauge perforating machine normally used for flat plate sheets. This method distinguishes sheet-waste stamps -- Scott 544, 596 and 613 -- from the coil-waste stamps and explains the existence of a straight-edge on Scott 613.
Census No. 613-CAN-08. Illustrated in United States Stamps 1922-26 by Gary Griffith, p. 190. Ex Hewitt, Zoellner and Twigg-Smith. With 1966 and 1981 P.F. certificates. Scott Catalogue value is based on grade of Fine.
