The Natalee Grace Collection of Used Stamps of the United States, Part Three continued...

VERY FINE AND CHOICE. THE 2-CENT TYPE II ROTARY PERF 11 X 10 IS ONE OF THE RAREST COIL WASTE STAMPS IN USED CONDITION. ONLY THIRTEEN USED SINGLES ARE KNOWN, AND THIS IS WITHOUT QUESTION ONE OF THE FINEST IN EXISTENCE.

At the beginning or end of a coil-stamp print run from the 170-subject rotary plates, some leading or trailing paper was left over that was too short for rolling into 500-stamp rolls. In 1919 the Bureau devised an economical plan to salvage this waste by converting the leftovers from coil stamps into sheet stamps. This was accomplished by cutting the sheets into panes and running them through the flat-plate perforator for the horizontal perforations, giving the stamps perforations on all sides. The Type III design was far more plentiful (producing Scott 540) but a small number of Type II (Scott 539) was also produced.

Since Scott 539 was put through two different perforating machines (perforated 10 vertically on the rotary perforator during the coil part of production and then perforated 11 on the flat plate perforator), most of the stamps are off-center. The rotary press sheets also had a natural tendency to curl, making perforating on the flat plate perforator especially difficult.

Our census of Scott 539, illustrated below and available at our website at http://www.siegelauctions.com/dynamic/census/539/539.pdf , records only thirteen used singles, one used block of four and one on cover. Most are off-center -- only the example offered here and one other (ex Twigg-Smith) have decent centering and are confirmed as sound.

Census No. 539-CAN-03. With 1987 P.F. certificate. We are mystified as to why Scott Catalogue value is so low -- the only example we have offered since keeping computerized records realized $15,500 hammer in 2001. (Image)

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EXTREMELY FINE. A JUMBO USED EXAMPLE OF THE 1922 ONE-CENT ROTARY PERF 11, SCOTT 544. AN EXTREMELY DIFFICULT ISSUE TO FIND WITH SUCH WIDE MARGINS.

A small quantity of 1c Rotary Press stamps was perforated 11 on a flat plate perforating machine at the end of 1922, using remainder sheets from the earlier printings that were normally perforated in 10 gauge or 10/11 compound gauge. Its existence as a Perf 11 variety was discovered in 1936, almost 13 years after it was produced. Its discovery was announced in an article in the Bureau Specialist by Max Johl, who in the same article announced the discovery of a 1c Franklin Rotary Perf 11 (what would become Scott 596 in 1963). The 1c Washington Rotary Perf 11 received its Scott Catalogue listing in 1938. Most of the recorded copies of Scott 544 are off-center or have been damaged -- the result of poor production standards and mis-handling.

With 1961 and 1997 P.F. certificates as a pair on cover. The cover accompanies (dated March 7, 1924). Scott Catalogue notes "No. 544 is valued in the grade of Fine" (Image)

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FINE. THIS IS THE ONLY RECORDED USED EXAMPLE OF THE 2-CENT ROTARY WASTE ISSUE PERF 10 AT LEFT. ONE OF THE RAREST OF ALL ROTARY PRESS ISSUES.

Scott 546 is a rotary press printing originally intended to produce coil stamps. At the beginning or end of the roll of printed stamps, a quantity of waste remained after the coils were produced. The Bureau devised a plan to salvage this waste by cutting the excess into panes and perforating them on all sides. These were originally issued in panes of 170, but later were issued in panes of 100 and 70.

Unlike the earlier coil waste issues (Scott 538-541), Scott 546 was not perforated in one direction on the rotary press, but was perforated with the 11-guage perfs in both directions on the flat plate perforating machine. In this case, the Perf 10 on One Side variety coincided with the coil waste production.

Our records of Scott 546a contain this unique used single and four unused as follows: 1-2) two contained in a block of eight (ex Wagshal and Sirron) and 3-4) two examples of the error in strips of four (one ex Grunin and Schilling). This is also the only vertical-format stamp which is Perf 10 on One Side rather than at top and bottom.

With 2000 P.F. certificate. (Image)

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EXTREMELY FINE GEM. A SUPERB USED EXAMPLE OF THE ONE-CENT ROTARY COIL WASTE ISSUE, SCOTT 545, WHICH HAS BEEN GRADED XF-SUPERB 95 BY P.S.E. -- THIS IS THE HIGHEST GRADE AWARDED TO DATE.

By their very nature, rotary press waste stamps are extremely difficult to obtain with such choice centering. The production process was far less precise, resulting in many off-center stamps. This issue was perforated in both directions on the flat plate perforating machine, which was set for a slightly different size of stamp, resulting in poor centering for the issue. The rotary press sheets also had a natural tendency to curl, making accurate perforating very difficult.

With 1991 P.F. and 2009 P.S.E. certificates (XF-Superb 95, SMQ $960.00). This is the highest grade awarded to date and only one other shares this grade. (Image)

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