The Don David Price Collection of the U.S. 1918 24c Jenny Air Post Issue continued...

VERY FINE AND CHOICE MULTIPLE. THIS IS THE ONLY RECORDED SIDEROGRAPHER'S INITIALS BLOCK OF THE RARE GROUNDED PLANE VARIETY.

The true Grounded Plane stamps, in which the wheels of the plane break through the top of Cents”, come from various portions of three different sheets. The discovery sheet was owned and broken up by John Klemann Jr. of Nassau Stamp Company. A second sheet was discovered in 1946 and sold in the Thomas A. Matthews sale (H. R. Harmer, Nov. 4, 1964), where it was purchased by Georges A. Medawar, publisher of Sanabria Airmail Catalogue. In Linn's Stamp News (April 21, 1986), Joe Kirker published his research identifying a third sheet as the source of the Grounded Plane variety.

The block offered here comes from the Matthews-Medawar (Sanabria) sheet and shows a strong downward shift. There is no record of another Grounded Plane with the siderographer’s initials.

Ex Matthews, Medawar, "Aurea" (Golden) and Blumenkopf (Image)

Search for comparables at SiegelAuctions.com

EXTREMELY FINE BLOCK OF FOUR OF THE RARE GROUNDED PLANE VARIETY. FEWER THAN EIGHT BLOCKS ARE RECORDED.

The true Grounded Plane stamps, in which the wheels of the plane break through the top of Cents”, come from various portions of three different sheets. The discovery sheet was owned and broken up by John Klemann Jr. of Nassau Stamp Company. A second sheet was discovered in 1946 and sold in the Thomas A. Matthews sale (H. R. Harmer, Nov. 4, 1964), where it was purchased by Georges A. Medawar, publisher of Sanabria Airmail Catalogue. In Linn's Stamp News (April 21, 1986), Joe Kirker published his research identifying a third sheet as the source of the Grounded Plane variety.

The block offered here shows a strong downward shift and is extraordinarily fresh. The guideline indicates it comes from the fifth and sixth rows of a sheet. Comparing this block to the photograph of the Matthews-Medawar (Sanabria) sheet and the single on the Klemann cover in lot 8, which comes from the fifth row (guideline at bottom, centered to top), we can rule out those two sources. This block must come from the Third Sheet. (Image)

Search for comparables at SiegelAuctions.com

VERY FINE APPEARING BOTTOM MARGIN ARROW BLOCK OF FOUR OF THE RARE GROUNDED PLANE VARIETY.

The true Grounded Plane stamps, in which the wheels of the plane break through the top of Cents”, come from various portions of three different sheets. The discovery sheet was owned and broken up by John Klemann Jr. of Nassau Stamp Company. A second sheet was discovered in 1946 and sold in the Thomas A. Matthews sale (H. R. Harmer, Nov. 4, 1964), where it was purchased by Georges A. Medawar, publisher of Sanabria Airmail Catalogue. In Linn's Stamp News (April 21, 1986), Joe Kirker published his research identifying a third sheet as the source of the Grounded Plane variety.

The strong downward shift of the vignette ties this block to the Totally Grounded stamps offered in lots 19 and 20 in this sale. It is not from the Matthews-Medawar (Sanabria) sheet -- the bottom arrow block was divided into singles -- so it must come from either the Klemann sheet or the Third Sheet. (Image)

Search for comparables at SiegelAuctions.com