2015 Rarities of the World continued...

VERY FINE UNUSED EXAMPLE OF THE 1857 ONE-CENT TYPE III PERFORATED.

With 2011 P.F. certificate (NG; VF 80) (Image)

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EXTREMELY FINE GEM. A SUPERB ORIGINAL-GUM EXAMPLE OF THE 1857 PERFORATED ONE-CENT TYPE IIIA.

With 2011 P.S.E. certificate (OGph, XF 90; SMQ $6,000.00). Only two have graded higher (the highest is a 95) and two others share this grade. Apart from one Mint N.H. graded 90, this is the highest grade we have offered for an unused stamp in one of our auctions. (Image)

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VERY FINE. A PHENOMENAL MULTICOLORED ADVERTISING COVER FOR FIREWORKS, COMBINING THE PATRIOTIC THEME OF JULY 4, 1776, AND A HOT AIR BALLOON. THIS DESIGN IS REPORTEDLY UNIQUE.

Text on the cover notes "Pyrotechnist to the city of Boston, 1850, 1852, 1854, 1855, 1856, 1858, 1859". The text omits 1857, when a mortar exploded during the July 4th festivities, killing three men and a boy.

This would be an excellent companion to a cover offered in the 1993 Piller collection sale (Siegel Sale 748, lot 410) and 2003 Rarities sales, which has a similar design at left, but depicts fireworks at right instead of the balloon.

Ex Haas, "Bull Durham", Gabriel and Conland. Illustrated on the front cover of Siegel Sale 637 in 1984. (Image)

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EXTREMELY FINE GEM. A STUNNING USED EXAMPLE OF THE 3-CENT 1857 TYPE IV IN THE FINEST CONDITION ATTAINABLE. THIS BEAUTIFUL STAMP HAS BEEN GRADED GEM 100 BY P.S.E. -- THE HIGHEST GRADE AWARDED.

The ready availability of 3c 1851-57 stamps gives collectors the false impression that superb examples, even of a better type, are easily obtainable. Yet with grading well into its 10th year, this is the sole example of a 3c Type IV stamp to achieve this Gem 100 grade.

With 2013 P.S.E. certificate (Gem 100; unpriced in SMQ above the grade of 98, SMQ $5,500.00 as 98). This is the highest grade awarded and the only example to achieve it. (Image)

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EXTREMELY FINE GEM. A STUNNING ORIGINAL-GUM EXAMPLE OF THE 12-CENT 1857 ISSUE IN THE FINEST CONDITION ATTAINABLE. AN EXCEEDINGLY RARE EXAMPLE OF THE IMPRINT ON TOPPAN, CARPENTER, CASILEAR & COMPANY'S 12-CENT PLATE ONE.

Due to narrow spacing on the plate, most examples of this stamp (both used and unused) have perforations touching at least part of the outer frameline of the design. It is quite evident that this stamp does not fall into that category. There is a well-defined margin on each side, which is more typical of the later Plate 3 printing (Scott 36b) where the subjects were spread slightly farther apart on the plate. This stamp, with its fresh original gum, clear margins all around, bright shade and imprint, is truly superb in every sense of the word.

Unlike its Plate 3 counterpart, which survived in unused multiples when the issue was demonetized in 1861, very few examples of 12c stamps printed from Plate 1 show part of the Toppan, Carpenter, Casilear & Co. imprint. The Type I imprint was entered alongside Positions 40, 50, 60 and 70 on the right pane (and Positions 30/40/50/60 on the left pane). Plate 3 has a plate number, but no numbers were engraved on the two other 12c plates. We call the plate used to print stamps Plate 1, but the intriguing story behind these two plates will be found in James A. Allen's chapter, "The 1851 12c Imperforate (Scott U.S. #17): Plating Update and Additional New Findings," in The 1851 Issue of United States Stamps: a Sesquicentennial Retrospective. The stamp offered here comes from the position which would ordinarily show a plate number. The absence of a plate number was a significant point in Neinken's study of the 12c plates.

Ex Concord, "J & J" and Hoffman. With 1995 and 2006 P.F. certificates (XF 90). (Image)

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VERY FINE APPEARANCE. AN EXTREMELY RARE BISECT USE OF THE PERFORATED 12-CENT 1857 ISSUE FROM PLATE ONE. ONE OF THE GREATEST 12-CENT 1857 ISSUE COVERS IN EXISTENCE. THIS IS ONLY THE SECOND TIME IN OVER 75 YEARS THAT THIS COVER HAS BEEN OFFERED AT AUCTION.

Edwardsville Ill. is just north of St. Louis on the other side of the Mississippi River. The bisect paid double the 3c rate to New Orleans.

The P.F. has only certified three bisects: 1) Top right diagonal half, the cover offered here; 2) Bottom left diagonal half, tied (not across the cut) by Canton Miss. circular datestamp to New Orleans; and 3) bottom right diagonal half, tied by California circular datestamp to St. Paris O. As an indication of rarity, this is the first we have offered in all of our Rarities sales and regular auctions from at least 1994. None was offered in the Caspary, Klein, Ishikawa or Zoellner sales.

Ex Keightley. With 1991 P.F. certificate. Scott Retail $17,500.00 is based on the realization of this cover in a 1991 auction, 24 years ago, when it came it the market for the first time in over 50 years. (Image)

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EXTREMELY FINE USED EXAMPLE OF THE 90-CENT 1860 ISSUE. THIS IS EASILY ONE OF THE WIDEST-MARGINED EXAMPLES IN EXISTENCE. ESPECIALLY DESIRABLE WITH THE RED LONDON CIRCULAR DATESTAMP.

The 90c stamp was issued in 1860, along with the 24c and 30c values, all of which were needed to prepay high international letter rates established by various postal treaties. The basic 24c and 30c rates to England, France and Germany created a large volume of mail franked with those values. However, the 90c saw much more limited use, partly due to the rates in effect, but more because of the American Civil War. When supplies of current postage stamps were declared invalid in the South and ultimately demonetized by the Federal government, the 90c had been in use for only one year. For this reason, genuinely cancelled copies and covers bearing the 90c are extremely rare. Approximately 180 used examples have been certified as genuine by the Philatelic Foundation, of which approximately one-quarter are sound. Of these sound examples, many are off-center.

Ex Ishikawa. With 1993 and 2006 P.F. certificates as sound. With 2010 P.S.E. certificate as reperfed at bottom -- we are mentioning the certificate in the spirit of full disclosure, but we assure everyone this stamp is not reperforated (Image)

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