The Golden Oak Collection of Superb United States continued...

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EXTREMELY FINE EXAMPLE OF THE 1923 ROTARY PERF 11 ISSUE.

The 1c Green, Scott 594, is waste from a horizontal rotary printing used to make coils. At the beginning or end of a coil-stamp print run from the 170-subject rotary plates, some leading or trailing paper was produced that was too short for rolling into 500-stamp rolls. In 1919 the Bureau devised a plan to salvage this waste by perforating and cutting the sheets into panes. They were put through the flat-plate perforator in use at the time, giving the sheets full perforations on all sides. In 1923 coil waste from the new 1c and 2c rotary production was turned into stamps later classified as Scott 578-579 and 594-595. These were the last of the coil-waste issues. Fewer than 100 survive of Scott 594 today.

Our exhaustive census of Scott 594, available at our website at: http://www.siegelauctions.com/dynamic/census/594/594.pdf , contains 89 used singles, four used pairs and five covers (including one with a pair) for a total of 103 used stamps. Many have perforations either in on one or more side, or have faults.

Census No. 594-CAN-72. With clear 1954, 1988 and 2007 P.F. certificates (Image)

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EXTREMELY FINE GEM. A RARE SOUND AND CENTERED JOINT LINE PAIR OF THE 2-CENT ROTARY PRESS COIL COMBINING TYPES I AND II.

According to the Armstrong book, the Type I, Scott 599, was produced starting in 1923. In 1929 the Bureau experimented with a new method of making plates. It became necessary to retouch the die, most notably in the hair, creating Type II (Scott 599A and 634A). Combination joint line pairs exist because two plates of 170 subjects were used at one time and for a short period one plate of each type was used.

The existence of the new die wasn't discovered until 1932, almost three years after it was produced. On July 6, 1932, the postage rate for first class mail was changed from 2c to 3c, and demand dropped sharply for 2c stamps. The existence of combination joint line pairs was not discovered until the early 1940's, making them especially scarce.

With 2005 P.S.E. certificate (XF 90; SMQ $2,500.00). The Population report does not list the combination joint line pair so we do not know the population figures; it is unpriced in SMQ as a 95 so it is likely none exist at that higher grade. (Image)

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EXTREMELY FINE GEM. A SUPERB MINT NEVER-HINGED PAIR OF THE 2-CENT HORIZONTAL COIL COIL, SCOTT 599A, WHICH HAS BEEN GRADED SUPERB 98 BY P.S.E.

With 2011 P.S.E. certificate (Superb 98; SMQ $2,800.00), this is the highest grade awarded (six others share it) (Image)

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FRESH AND VERY FINE. A RARE SOUND EXAMPLE OF THE 2-CENT HARDING ROTARY PERF 11.

Warren G. Harding, the 29th President, died in San Francisco on August 2, 1923, during a cross-country "Voyage of Understanding". Several people suggested a Harding memorial stamp, printed in black, and it was rushed into production. The first flat plate printing (Scott 610) was issued on September 1, 1923, in his home town of Marion, Ohio, followed less than two weeks later by the normal Perf 10 rotary press printing (Scott 612) on September 12.

The 2c Harding Rotary Perf 11 stamp was discovered in 1938 by Leslie Lewis of the New York firm, Stanley Gibbons Inc. Gary Griffith presents his hypothesis in United States Stamps 1922-26 that rotary-printed sheets of 400 were first reduced to panes of 100 and then fed through the 11-gauge perforating machine normally used for flat plate sheets. This method explains the existence of a straight-edge on Scott 613. Production quality and quantity was very low, due to the rotary press stamps' natural tendency to curl, and the use of the flat plate perforator for the slightly different-sized rotary printing.

Our updated census of the 2c Harding Rotary Perf 11, available at our website at http://www.siegelauctions.com/dynamic/census/613/613.pdf , records 43 used singles (one faintly cancelled, if at all), one used pair and the recently-discovered used strip of three. Of the singles, 25 are sound, but of these only six rate a grade of Very Fine or Extremely Fine.

Census No. 613-CAN-04. Ex McKinney. With 2002 P.F. certificate (Image)

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