Sale 978 — The Beverly Hills Collection of Outstanding United States Stamps
Sale Date — Friday, 4 December, 2009
Category — 1868 Grilled Issue
Lot
Symbol
Photo/Description
Cat./Est. Value
Realized
1021
5c Brown, F. Grill (95). Original gum, pristine except for a tiny bit of offset, beautiful rich color in a bright reddish shade, unusually sharp impression, remarkably fresh, wide margins clear of design all around and perfectly centeredEXTREMELY FINE GEM. A MAGNIFICENT EXAMPLE OF THE 1868 5-CENT BROWN F GRILL WITH ORIGINAL GUM. AN EXCEEDINGLY RARE STAMP IN THIS CHOICE CONDITION.
The 5c 1861-68 Issues are extremely difficult to find in sound, well-centered, original-gum condition. The narrow spacing between stamps on the plate and large 12-gauge perforations resulted in stamps that are frequently off center. This applies to Scott 67, 75, 76 and 95 alike. None of these is easy to locate in centered original-gum condition (to understate the matter), but the limited production of 5c F Grills leaves collectors with an even smaller supply.
P.S.E. encapsulated (OGph, XF 90; SMQ $9,200.00). This is the only graded original gum example of this issue.
3,750
11,500
