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

VERY FINE APPEARANCE. ONE OF THE MOST ATTRACTIVE EXAMPLES OF THE ONE-CENT ROTARY PERF 11 ISSUE, SCOTT 594.

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 11-gauge flat-plate perforator in use at the time, giving the sheets full perforations on all sides. The existence of Scott 594 was not reported until four months after the final sheets were delivered, and the 1c Rotary Perf 11 was soon recognized as one of the rarest United States stamps.

Our census of Scott 594, available at https://siegelauctions.com/census/us/scott/594 , contains 92 used singles, four used pairs and five covers (including one with a pair) for a total of 106 used stamps. Most have perforations either in on one or more sides and/or have faults.

Census No. 594-CAN-74. With 1999 P.F. certificate (Image)

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VERY FINE AND CHOICE. AN EXCEEDINGLY RARE SOUND EXAMPLE OF SCOTT 596, WHICH IS ONE OF THE RAREST STAMPS IN ALL OF UNITED STATES PHILATELY. ONLY 15 ARE RECORDED, AND ONLY FOUR ARE CONFIRMED AS SOUND.

The discovery of the stamp that would eventually become Scott 596, was announced in an article in the Bureau Specialist by Max Johl, who in the same article announced the discovery of a 1c Washington design (Scott 544). A third rotary press rarity, the 2c Harding (Scott 613), would not be discovered for another two years. Scott 596 is a slightly taller design than both the flat plate printing and the rotary coil waste printing, or Scott 594, due to the direction it was rolled around the rotary press printing cylinder. The "tall stamp" was considered to be a variety of Scott 594, the "wide" Rotary Perf 11; it was given its own Scott number in 1963.

All three issues (Scott 544, 596 and 613) were rotary sheet waste perforated 11 in both directions on the flat plate perforating machine. It is unclear whether they were produced at the same time. 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 census of Scott 596, available at our website at https://siegelauctions.com/census/us/scott/596 , records fifteen stamps, all used or precancelled. None are graded above a 70. Only five of the thirteen have postal cancels, and only one of these is completely sound (number 1, realized $190,000 hammer in our 2009 Whitman sale). Only three precancelled copies are confirmed as sound (numbers 10, 11 and 13). Two others have not been seen since 1969 and 1971 (numbers 3 and 6) so their condition has not been verified. Therefore, only one postally cancelled and three precancelled copies are confirmed as sound.

Census No. 596-CAN-11. Ex Peyton ("Isleham") and McNall. With 1964, 1992 and 1994 P.F. certificates. This is the first we have offered since 2012. Scott Retail with postal cancel is $175,000.00. Scott Retail with Bureau precancel (Image)

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FRESH AND FINE EXAMPLE OF THE 2-CENT HARDING ROTARY PERF 11, WHICH IS ONE OF THE RAREST OF ALL 20TH CENTURY ISSUES. ONLY 50 ARE RECORDED.

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 census of the 2c Harding Rotary Perf 11, available at https://siegelauctions.com/census/us/scott/613 , records 45 used singles (one faintly cancelled, if at all), one used pair and the used strip of three, for a total of 50 stamps. Of the singles, 22 are confirmed as sound, but of these only six rate a grade of Very Fine or Extremely Fine. The example offered here, with three wide margins and in sound condition, is highly desirable.

Census No. 613-CAN-34. Ex Dr. Graves ("Argentum"). Signed in pencil by Weill. With 1987 P.F. certificate (Image)

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EXTREMELY FINE. A RARE PLATE BLOCK OF THE $5.00 PRESIDENTIAL IN THE RED BROWN AND BLACK COLOR.

Roland E. Rustad notes that only twelve plate blocks are recorded of this distinctive color error.

With 1991 A.P.S. certificate. Scott Retail as original gum (Image)

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