2008 Rarities of the World continued...

VERY FINE. A RARE AND HIGHLY EXHIBITABLE MULTIPLE OF THIS MAJOR BUREAU ISSUE PERFORATION VARIETY.

There are three distinct imperforate errors in the 1908 2c Shield Issue, listed in Scott as Nos. 319d, 319e and a sub-variety of 319e, the San Francisco Roulette. The imperforate-horizontally multiples (Scott 319d) come from a block of 25 purchased from the Washington D.C. post office. All known examples of Scott 319d are printed in a deeper shade of Carmine than 319e or the San Francisco Roulette. The two multiples in the Brody collection (Shreve lots 105 and 106) show that the original Scott 319d multiple came from the upper half of the lower right pane of 100.

The imperforate-between multiples (Scott 319e and San Francisco Roulette) come from two sources, according to research by Roger Brody. All multiples listed as Scott 319e (without roulette) have very faint blind perf holes between the stamps, the shade and centering of all Scott 319e's are identical, but as a group they differ from the rouletted examples. The ex-Brody bottom imprint and plate no. 4475 block of four (lot 108) proves that the bottom two rows were imperforate between.

The third error -- imperforate-between with roulette (offered here) -- should be separately listed in Scott, but it is identified as a sub-variety of 319e, which confuses the two unrelated sources. The rouletted multiples come from a small number of sheets received by the San Francisco postmaster that were missing a line of perforations between the first and second rows at top, unlike No. 319e without roulette, which comes from the bottom two rows. Rather than destroy or return the problem sheets, the postmaster applied his own roulette for separation. The existence of top position blocks confirms the position of the error stamps in the sheet. The plate position of the multiple offered here is known due to the guideline at right. (Image)