The Scarsdale Collection, Part Three continued...

EXTREMELY FINE GEM. A SUPERB MINT NEVER-HINGED EXAMPLE OF THE 1873 2-CENT CONTINENTAL BANK NOTE PRINTING.

With 2000 P.F. certificate. Scott Retail as hinged (Image)

EXTREMELY FINE GEM. A MAGNIFICENT MINT NEVER-HINGED EXAMPLE OF THE 3-CENT 1873 CONTINENTAL BANK NOTE COMPANY ISSUE IN THE FINEST CONDITION ATTAINABLE.

This stamp has every quality one could ask for -- pristine Mint Never-Hinged gum, beautiful color, perfect centering, wide margins and a detailed impression.

With 2000 P.F. certificate. Scott Retail as hinged does not even begin to approach its value in today's marketplace. (Image)

EXTREMELY FINE AND FRESH ORIGINAL-GUM EXAMPLE OF THE 1873 6-CENT CONTINENTAL BANK NOTE COMPANY ISSUE.

With 1999 P.F. certificate (Image)

EXTREMELY FINE ORIGINAL-GUM EXAMPLE OF THE 1873 7-CENT CONTINENTAL BANK NOTE COMPANY ISSUE.

With 1998 P.F. certificate (Image)

EXTREMELY FINE. AN EXCEEDINGLY RARE MINT NEVER-HINGED EXAMPLE OF THE 1873 10-CENT CONTINENTAL BANK NOTE ISSUE.

We have offered only two other Mint N.H. examples of this stamp since keeping computerized records.

With 1980 and 1999 P.F. certificates. Scott Retail as hinged (Image)

EXTREMELY FINE GEM. A MAGNIFICENT ORIGINAL-GUM EXAMPLE OF THE 1873 12-CENT CONTINENTAL -- ONE OF THE MOST DIFFICULT BANK NOTE ISSUES TO OBTAIN IN THIS OUTSTANDING CONDITION.

With 1996 P.F. certificate. (Image)

EXTREMELY FINE ORIGINAL-GUM EXAMPLE OF THE 1873 15-CENT CONTINENTAL BANK NOTE COMPANY ISSUE WITH ORIGINAL GUM.

With 1992 and 2000 P.F. certificates. (Image)

EXTREMELY FINE ORIGINAL-GUM EXAMPLE OF THE 30-CENT 1873 CONTINENTAL PRINTING. A SUPERB STAMP IN EVERY RESPECT.

Lost among the 1870 National Grilled and Ungrilled Issues, 1875 Continental and 1880 American Bank Note Special Printings, and the 1879 and 1888 American Issues is the 30c 1873 Continental printing. Scott 165 is distinguished from its National counterpart by shade and the shape of the perforations, and from its 1879 American counterpart by paper. Many philatelists -- even intermediate and advanced collectors -- have difficulty classifying Scott 165. When it comes to naming the most elusive Bank Note stamps in choice original-gum condition, the 30c 1873 is often overlooked. However, go to any serious collection and look for this stamp, and most of the time it is missing or represented by something that compromises quality. The 30c 1870 is frequently found filling the space for Scott 165. The 30c Continental is extremely rare in any original-gum condition that approaches this example. Blocks have always been rare -- for example, Caspary did not have one, Lilly had one well-centered block of four and an off-center block of six -- which means that singles could not be harvested from multiples. Our analysis of the rarity of this stamp is confirmed by the $21,000 hammer realization for a superb example in our 2000 Rarities sale. We hope that collectors who still have a tendency to overlook the 30c Continental will be awakened to its rarity in Extremely Fine original-gum condition by our comments and recent realizations.

With 1984 and 2000 P.F. certificates (Image)

EXTREMELY FINE GEM. A SUPERB ORIGINAL-GUM EXAMPLE OF THE 90-CENT 1873 CONTINENTAL BANK NOTE COMPANY ISSUE, SCOTT 166. THIS STAMP HAS BEEN GRADED SUPERB 98 BY P.S.E. -- THE HIGHEST GRADE AWARDED TO DATE TO AN ORIGINAL-GUM (OGph) EXAMPLE OF THIS STAMP. A TRUE CONDITION RARITY.

The Superb 98 grade becomes exponentially more difficult to achieve as one moves away from the modern issues toward the perforated classics. In particular, the Bank Note Issue high values rarely possess the wide "boxed" margins and precise centering that define the Superb 98 grade. This is the only 90c stamp -- the highest denomination of the Large Bank Note series -- to achieve a P.S.E. OGph Superb 98 grade until we reach the 1888 Purple color-change issue (Scott 218). Behind it in the P.S.E. Population Report are OGph examples of Scott 155 (one), 166 (one) and 191 (two) in XF-Superb 95 grade. There are no Mint N.H. examples of these 90c stamps currently reported (for the record, one Scott 166 with disturbed gum has been graded 98J).

The difference between a 95 and 98 in later issues is frequently a matter of separating a minority of stamps from a big pile. However, the difference between a 90c 1873 Issue in Superb 98 grade and every other copy of this issue is enormous. Although multiples of the 90c 1873 have been broken up to furnish Very Fine and Extremely Fine (80-90 points) stamps, it is unlikely that more than a half-dozen exist in truly XF-Superb 95 or Superb 98 condition. This stamp could well be alone in holding its Superb 98 position for many years, if not forever.

With 2002 P.F. certificate. With 2002 P.S.E. certificate (Superb 98, SMQ $16,300.00). (Image)