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FINE-VERY FINE. A RARE SOUND PLATE BLOCK OF THE 1918 $2.00 ORANGE RED & BLACK. ONLY A HANDFUL OF PLATE BLOCKS EXIST.
The $2.00 and $5.00 1918 Issue are the first bi-colored dollar-denominated postage stamps issued by the United States. Both were released just three months after the famous 1918 24c Inverted Jenny, but the early printings were issued in small quantities, since stocks of the earlier $2.00 and $5.00 issues were still on hand.
According to Johl, the $2.00 Orange Red & Black was a color error on the part of the Bureau of Engraving & Printing. The official description and order for the bi-color stamps specified "Red and Black" for the $2.00. When subsequent printings appeared in 1920 and philatelists brought the matter to the attention of the Bureau, they were told "this stamp has always been this color" (Johl, p. 306). From studies of Bureau and Post Office records, it is clear that the originally-intended color was not issued until November 1920 (Scott 547), and that the earlier Orange Red stamps were mistakes. The quantity issued has been variously estimated at between 47,000 and 68,000.
With 1959 P.F. certificate. (Image)
FINE-VERY FINE APPEARANCE. A SCARCE PLATE BLOCK OF THE 1918 $2.00 ORANGE RED & BLACK. ONLY A HANDFUL OF PLATE BLOCKS EXIST.
This is one of the scarcest and most desirable of the 20th Century bi-colored issue plate blocks. (Image)
VERY FINE. A HANDSOME EXAMPLE OF THIS SCARCE $5.00 BI-COLORED ISSUE PLATE BLOCK.
Plates 8178 and 8179 were the only two plates to be used to print this issue. The vignette plate was the same used for the $2.00 Scott Nos. 523 and 547. (Image)