Login to Use StampAuctionNetwork. New Member? Click "Register".
StampAuctionNetwork Extended Features
StampAuctionNetwork Channels
Extended Features
Visit the following Auction Calendars:
Help:
More Useful Information:
Newsletter:
For Auction Firms:
Search for comparables at SiegelAuctions.com
VERY FINE. THE 1861-62 24-CENT RED AND BROWN LILAC SHADES ARE EXTREMELY RARE AS UNUSED BLOCKS. THIS IS ONE OF THE LARGEST AND FINEST 24-CENT BROWN LILAC UNUSED BLOCKS EXTANT.
After spending hours searching on-line records and our extensive auction catalogue library, we were only able to confirm the existence of two or possibly three unused blocks of Scott 70 Red Lilac and Scott 70a Brown Lilac, including this block. One of the other two is a block of four (PFC 367395, Siegel Sale 833, lot 382). There is also a vertical block of six with part imprint and plate number in the William H. Gross collection, identified as Scott 70a, but that block was previously described as Scott 78 and the shape of the perforations appear to be characteristic of the later printing on thick paper, making identification uncertain.
We would have lost a bet if asked about the rarity of unused blocks of Scott 70 or 70a before trying to answer the question of how many exist. The collections that are famous for blocks -- Caspary, Lilly, Ishikawa and Klein -- did not have any Red Lilac or Brown Lilac unused blocks. Crocker had one described as an "intermediate shade" which was offered years later as a 24c Lilac, Scott 78. Hind had a "badly centered" original-gum block of six of a shade called Lilac, which was almost certainly Scott 78. Worthington had a block of six described as "Red Lilac (70), darker shade...o.g., very fine," but the darker shade was almost certainly the later Scott 78 color. Sinkler had a block described as "Red Lilac, block, o.g., fine," which is off center and very pale in the catalogue photo, so it is impossible to say if it is truly the Red Lilac, Scott 70 (it probably is not). Colson, in his booklet on the Duckwall collection, describes a well-centered, original-gum block of the Red Lilac, but that was in 1929, and we simply cannot verify his identification, let alone if the block still survives intact. In fact, the absence of blocks in the more modern collections (Lilly, Klein, Ishikawa) is a strong indicator of rarity -- if more blocks existed, these collectors would have had one.
Why did we start with the mistaken impression that this block was one of several? Because the large number of 24c Lilac and Gray Lilac (Scott 78) unused multiples tricks the memory. The rarity of the earlier printings in Red Lilac and Brownish Lilac (on thinner paper) should not be confused with the later printings in the common shade on thicker paper.
We have tried (and failed) to trace the provenance of the block of six offered here. It most likely has been in the European Connoisseur's collection for more than a half-century. The absence of gum may have something to do with the block's extraordinary freshness and true color, as well as the fact that it has been sheltered from frequent exposure to light and other color-degrading factors.
The Scott Catalogue value for an original-gum block of No. 70 is $15,000.00, but we have no idea what the editors used as a basis for that value. For Scott 70a, of which one block is recorded (last sold in 2000), the value is $17,000.00 versus $13,000.00 for four original-gum singles. The value of Scott 70a in unused (no gum) condition is $1,250.00, so the total is $7,500.00 for the six stamps in this block. Our estimate is based on that value, but a collector who acquires this important philatelic artifact for anything approaching our estimate should open a bottle of Champagne to celebrate. (Image)