Auction Highlight
From Classic China & Stamps of the People's Republic, with Japan and Other Asia - Kelleher and Rogers Limited - December 6, 2023
Lot 179 -
1897, Small $1 on 3¢ Red Revenue (Chan 86. Scott 83), a superlative example, bright exquisite color on wonderfully fresh white paper, centered within good to large margins, unused with much original gum, two perforations at top right have a barely discernable and inconsequential translucency, Very Fine and a peerless example of this legendary world rarity. Scott $900,000 (HK$ 7,086,610).
The stamp also displays non-constant surcharge varieties: partly missing horizontal stroke at top of "Yuan" and broken top of "o" in "dollar".
This is type A with the "1 Dollar" of the surcharge partly covering the word "Revenue". The type A and B ("1 dollar" completely covering the word "Revenue') stamps all come from a right surcharge plate of 25. The type C ("1 dollar" above the word "Revenue") comes from the other surcharge plate.
Only 32 examples have been recorded of this iconic stamp, which is acknowledged as the rarest regularly issued stamp of China, and ranks among the great world rarities.
References
Huang Kuang-Sheng, A Treatise on the Extant Copies of the Small One Dollar with Illustrations (Marulas Valenzuela, Philippines, 1975). This is listed as example number A-8 of the 32 extant Small One Dollar. Depicted alongside the stamp is a copy of Royal Philatelic Society Expert Committee Certificate #77924 (24 Jan. 1972) stating that the "$1 on 3c. deep red - unused is genuine".
The Revenue Surcharges China 1897, Vol. I (Taipei: Directorate General of Posts of Taiwan, 1987), p. 39. It is listed as type III, number 11.
Provenance and Auction Record
Eugene Klein (Philadelphia), July 7, 1944, Lot 366 (pair).
Saul Newbury, Robert A. Siegel (New York), June 2, 1962, Lot 418. This is the right stamp of the horizontal pair, which was later split into two singles.
Dr. James K. Senior, Robson Lowe (Basle), October 6, 1971, Lot 1287. In the auction catalog, Robson Lowe succinctly described this stamp as "brilliant mint".
Southern Stamp Service Ltd./ Peter Holcombe, Private Sale, 1976.
Anna-Lisa and Sven-Eric Beckeman, Private Sale, 1980.
Lam Man Yin, Private Sale, 1983.
James B. Whang, Christie's Swire (Hong Kong), November 2, 1994, Lot 2359.
China Land Post Stamp Auctions (Shanghai), May 2, 1996, Lot 1005.
Interasia Auctions (Hong Kong), June 16, 2018, Lot 501. Est. HK$4,000,000-5,000,000....Est. HK$4,000,000-5,000,000
Currently HK$ 3,800,000
Kelleher and Rogers LimitedKelleher & Rogers is a wholly owned subsidiary of Daniel F. Kelleher Auctions, America's Oldest Auction Company. Kelleher & Rogers is based and staffed in Hong Kong
