1869 (1875 Re-issue), 90¢ carmine & black (132), incredibly fresh and well centered with unusually large, well balanced margins. Canceled beautifully struck New York REG oval. Tiny thin spot, choice. Extremely Fine appearance, quite scarce used.
Scott $6,500 Scott $6,500 (Image)

Scott $6,500

1889, 6¢ Lincoln in vermilion with "Sample A" overprint (208S-L), horizontal pair on American Bank Note Co. sample sheet, large portion of an approximately 16"x12½" sheet with about 60 specimens of the then-current definitives affixed in vertical rows on the left- and right-hand sides. Above the stamps on the left-hand side, all of which are overprints "SAMPLE." (Scott type K), is the manuscript caption, "Proposed colors for stamps of large size." Above the stamps on the right-hand side, all of which are overprints "SAMPLE A." (Scott type L,M or N), is the manuscript caption, "Proposed colors for stamps of small size." Next to rows of the 90¢ carmine, 10¢ brown, 4¢ blue green & 5¢ indigo are captions indicating that these colors were to be used for the 2¢, 5¢, 10¢ & 15¢ stamps, respectively; 68 stamps, in all. The sheet itself which has been folded twice, is rather brittle with some chips and tears, and some of the stamps are damaged, but regardless, this is a unique and important piece of Bank Note postal history, which demonstrates how the "sample" specimens were used.
Estimate $4,000 - 6,000 (Image)

1890, 4¢ Lincoln Die essay, in black brown on India on card (222-E2), completed design with Lincoln facing left, 72x72mm with full die sinkage, without ABNCo imprints. Bit of light foxing. Still Very Fine. Brazer 115aE-Fd.
Scott $1,250 Scott $1,250 (Image)

Scott $1,250

1890, 4¢ Lincoln Die essay, in black brown on India on card (222-E2), completed design with Lincoln facing left, 25x37mm, "American Bank Note Co. N.Y." and die no. "C-226" imprints. Couple small stains and wrinkles. Fine. Brazer 115aE-Fd.
Scott $1,250 Scott $1,250 (Image)

Scott $1,250

1890, 4¢ Lincoln Die essay, in black brown on India on card (222-E3), incomplete right-facing design, no wart on cheek, no shading on shirt front, 72x72mm with full die sinkage. Bit of minor soiling. Very Fine. Brazer 115aE-Fd.
Scott $1,500 Scott $1,500 (Image)

Scott $1,500

1890, 4¢ Lincoln Die essay, in black brown on India on card (222-E3 var.), incomplete right-facing design, still no wart on cheek, but shading added to shirt front, 76x76mm with full die sinkage, signed by the engravers: D.S. Ronaldson (frame & lettering) and Alfred Jones (vignette). Very Fine. Brazer 115aE-Fd.
Estimate $1,000 - 1,500 (Image)

1890, 4¢ dark brown (222), top margin imprint and plate number block of 12. Exceptionally fresh and well centered. O.g., very lightly hinged. Bit of insignificant separation in selvage. Very Fine.
Scott $3,580 Scott $3,580 (Image)

Scott $3,580

1894, 4¢ Lincoln Die essay, in dark yellow brown on India on card (254-E1), incomplete engraving, 75x75mm with full die sinkage. Very Fine.
Scott $1,500 Estimate $1,000 - 1,500

Provenance: Brazer. Scott $1,500 (Image)

Scott $1,500

1894, 4¢ Lincoln Die essay, in dark yellow brown on India on card (254-E2), somewhat more complete engraving, 78x80mm with full die sinkage. Very Fine.
Scott $1,500

Provenance: Brazer. Scott $1,500 (Image)

Scott $1,500

1894, 4¢ Lincoln Die essay, in dark yellow brown on India on card (254-E2), somewhat more complete engraving as previous, 71x73mm with full die sinkage, signed in pencil by engraver James Kennedy. Very Fine.
Scott $1,500

Provenance: Whitpain. Scott $1,500 (Image)

Scott $1,500

1894, 4¢ Lincoln Die essay, in black brown on India on card (254-E3), nearly finished design, 73x75mm with full die sinkage, pencil notation in margin "Expand by [engraver] Alfred Jones Before Re-Ent. 1890". Very Fine.
Scott $1,250 Scott $1,250 (Image)

Scott $1,250

1894, 4¢ Lincoln Die essay, in black brown on India on card (254-E3 var.), finished design prior to hardening with die number C—226 and ABNCo. imprint, 77x80mm with full die sinkage, initialed below proof with instruction "O.K. to harden, July 17/94". Very Fine.
Estimate $750 - 1,000 (Image)

1894, 4¢ Lincoln, large die proof from the finished die (254P1), die-sunk on card 111x152mm, signed in pencil by engravers James Kennedy and "Worked over by J.F.C. Smillie". F.-V.F.
Scott $600+ Scott $600+ (Image)

Scott $600+

1894, 4¢ dark brown (254), bottom margin plate number and imprint block of 6. Remarkably fresh and well centered. O.g., lightly hinged. Very Fine.
Scott $2,200 Scott $2,200 (Image)

Scott $2,200

1894, 4¢ dark brown (254), used with the rest of the 1894 First Bureau Issue to the 50¢ (247, 251, 253-260) on registered cover from New York to Raratonga, Cook Island via San Francisco, Sep 10, 1895; backstamped San Francisco (Sep 13) and Auckland, New Zealand (Oct 10); few minor perf flaws, 50¢ with faults. Otherwise Fine and attractive.
Estimate $750 - 1,000

Expertization: photocopy of 1988 P.F. Certificate. (Image)

1895, 4¢ dark brown (269), used to pay postage due on a packet boat cover from Danish West Indies to Winfield Junction, New York City, franked with two 1896 D.W.I. 5¢ (19) tied by Jacksonville, Fla. machine cancel upon entering the U.S. mails, Feb 10, 1899; the cover was rated "Ship Less Postage due 4 cents." and the 4¢ stamp was added and canceled; backstamped P.O.N.Y. transit and Winfield Junction receiver. Very Fine.
Estimate $1,000 - 1,500

Provenance: Schnell.

Believe to be the only such usage recorded. (Image)

1895, 4¢ dark brown (269), used with 1¢ & 2¢ (264, 267a) as forwarding postage on 1896 cover from Canada to Steilacoom, Wash. forwarded to Hawaii, originally franked with Canadian 3¢ Small Queen tied by Penticton, B.C. squared circle, address crossed off and redirected to Lihue Kauai, Hawaiian Is. with 7¢ postage added and canceled at Steilacoom; rated "Collect 16 Cents"; backstamped Tacoma (Jul 9), Honolulu (Jul 31) and Lihue (Aug 4); slight faults and some soiling, but a totally unique usage.
Estimate $1,000 - 1,500 (Image)

1895, 4¢ dark brown (269), tied by New York machine cancel on spectacular 12-color advertising cover for Seabury & Johnson, makers of "Medicinal, Surgical and Antiseptic Specialties"; stamp with natural straight edge. Very Fine.
Estimate $400 - 500 (Image)

1895, 4¢ dark brown (269), Used with 1¢ blue (264) on cover from Philippine Station, San Francisco, Cal. Sep. 14, 1898 to Cadiz, Spain, French packet boat handstamp Sep 24, backstamped Hong Kong (Sep 19) and Cadiz (Oct 5); also on reverse manuscript. "1er sello yankee de Filipinas", indicating the first American stamps used in the Philippines; couple trivial toned perfs, vertical file fold and edge faults. Fine and rare.
Estimate $300 - 400

Provenance: Whitpain.

Manila was occupied on August 13, 1898. (Image)

1895, 4¢ dark brown, imperf plate proof on stamp paper (269P5), horizontal pair used with a similar pair of the 1¢ imperf plate proof on stamp paper (264P5) on registered cover from Boston to Washington, D.C., Mar 21, 1900; 4¢ creased between stamps, cover with minor edge flaws at top. Very Fine.
Estimate $750 - 1,000

Expertization: 1966 P.F. Certificate. (Image)

1898, 4¢ rose brown & 4¢ orange brown, two spectacular fold-over/missing print errors (280, 280b vars.), in a corner margin block of four and a corner margin single. O.g. The block partially rejoined. F.-V.F.
Estimate $300 - 400 (Image)

1898, 4¢ rose brown (280), used with 50¢ orange (275), and the rest of the 1898 Color changes (279, 279B, 280-282, 283, 284) on registered cover from Honolulu, Hawaii to New York City, Apr 3, 1901; minor edge wear. F.-V.F.
Estimate $750 - 1,000

Provenance: Whitpain. (Image)

1898, 4¢ orange brown (280b), complete left plate no. 1101 pane of 100. Bright and fresh, o.g., all but 16 stamps NH, including both plate blocks. Some separation, Fine-average centering with several Very Fine stamps. Top plate block is Fine, bottom Very Good. A rare sheet.
Scott $8,150 as singles Scott $8,150 as singles (Image)

Scott $8,150 as singles

1898, 4¢ orange brown (280b), plate number 793 single, tied by one of two strikes "Mil. P Sta N-^O. Tientsin, China" duplex, Nov 7, 1900, on 2¢ entire (U364) to Birmingham, Ala.; backstamped San Francisco & Birmingham. F.-V.F. A convenience overpayment of 1¢.
Estimate $200 - 300 (Image)

Correspondence from Pres. Theodore Roosevelt, six items: 1.) a carbon copy of a telegram dated Jan 2, 1909, from president Theodore Roosevelt to the wife of the late sculptor Augustus Saint Gaudens, asking her permission to use one of her husbands sculptures of Lincoln as the basis for a stamp being prepared for the Feb 12th 100th anniversary of Lincoln's birth; 2.) A hand written two page letter from Mrs. St. Gaudens granting such permission; 3.) a typed letter signed by Roosevelt's secretary, William Loeb, Jr., to Postmaster General Meyer enclosing Mrs. St. Gaudens' letter; 4.) a carbon of a draft proposal for Roosevelt's original telegram, which included the date of Feb 22nd, confusing it with Washington's birth date; 5.) an official 8x10 archival photo of the St. Gaudens statue of the seated Lincoln in Chicago's Grant Park, upon which the bust on the issued stamp was based; and 6.) a multicolor postcard featuring St. Gaudens' "standing Lincoln" which resides in Chicago's Lincoln Park.
Estimate $1,000 - 1,500 (Image)