The David Wingate Collection of United States Stamps continued...

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FINE PAIR OF THE 2-CENT CARMINE COIL, SCOTT 388.

This 2c coil was in production for only a short period of time before being superseded by the Perf 8-1/2 issue. Due to the greater popularity of the horizontal coils with users, combined with a wary attitude by many collectors that early coils were simply trimmed stamps, many were used and few preserved. (Image)

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VERY FINE. AN EXTREMELY RARE UNUSED PAIR OF THE 1911 3-CENT ORANGEBURG COIL, SCOTT 389. ONLY TWO UNUSED SINGLES AND SIX UNUSED PAIRS ARE AVAILABLE TO COLLECTORS. ONE OF THE GREATEST RARITIES OF 20TH CENTURY UNITED STATES PHILATELY.

The Orangeburg coil was made by the Post Office Department in 1911, specifically for use by the Bell Pharmaceutical Company. The 3c coil stamps were used to send samples of their products to physicians. Due to the quantity of mail, they were put through the first-class cancelling machine at Orangeburg, New York. The Orangeburg coil stamps' use on third-class mail and the fact that philatelists were generally unaware of their production account for their rarity.

A census of the Orangeburg coil, published in The Philatelic Foundation's Opinions VII book, lists two singles and six unused pairs, plus an uncertified unused pair with paste-up at left in the The New York Public Library's Benjamin K. Miller collection (on extended loan to the Smithsonian National Postal Museum). The P.F. census comports with our own, which is available at https://siegelauctions.com/census//us/scott/389 . Of the certified pairs, three are centered strongly to one side.

The pair offered here received its first P.F. certificate in 1961, and was submitted by noted collector A. Richard Engel. It was not included in the 1975 auction of his collection in Europe, so he must have either held it or sold it after getting it certified (his auction did include the pair with plate number paste-up). In 1984 this pair was acquired privately by Joseph E. Lessin, who held it until 2002 when he consigned it to Shreves.

Siegel Census No. 389-OG-PR-02. Ex Engel and Lessin. With 1961, 2002 and 2018 P.F. certificates (Image)

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VERY FINE AND CHOICE. AN OUTSTANDING EXAMPLE OF THE RARE ORANGEBERG COIL. SELDOM FOUND IN THIS SOUND WELL-CENTERED CONDITION.

The Orangeburg coil was made by the Post Office Department in 1911 specifically for use by the Bell Pharmaceutical Company. The 3c coil stamps were used to send samples of their products to physicians. Due to the quantity of mail, they were put through the first-class cancelling machine at Orangeburg, New York. Due to the coil stamps' use on mass mailings, many of the surviving copies are faulty to some extent. The most common defects are corner creases or tears. This sound copy is far nicer than most.

With 2000 P.F. certificate (Image)

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