2007 Rarities of the World continued...

VERY FINE APPEARANCE. A RARE EXAMPLE OF THE 1914 5-CENT WASHINGTON PERF 12 x 10. ONLY 24 USED COPIES ARE RECORDED IN OUR CENSUS. NONE ARE KNOWN UNUSED.

For no apparent reason, the 5c has the highest percentage of faulty stamps of any of the 1914 Compound Perf issues. Of the 24 used copies in our census, seventeen are either faulty or have the perforations in on at least one side of the design. This wide-margined stamp has minor creases and ranks among the finer examples.

Census No. 423C-CAN-10. With 1963 P.F. certificate (Image)

FRESH AND FINE. THIS IS THE ONLY RECORDED PLATE NUMBER EXAMPLE OF THE RARE ONE-CENT PERF 10 X 12 COMPOUND PERFORATION. A MAJOR RARITY IN REMARKABLY CHOICE CONDITION.

Our census of Scott 423D, published at our website at http://siegelauc tions.com/enc/census/423D/423D.htm, contains 40 stamps. All genuine stamps are used, including 33 with the Dayton precancel. Two are known with the Buffalo, N.Y. precancel.

Census No. 423D-CAN-25. With 1989 P.F. certificate. (Image)

VERY FINE AND CHOICE. AN EXCEEDINGLY RARE MINT NEVER-HINGED JOINT LINE PAIR OF THE 1915 2-CENT TYPE I VERTICAL COIL. AN OUTSTANDING RARITY.

Type I rotary press stamps were produced using the same master dies as had been used for flat plate printings. However, due to the curve of the plate to fit the rotary press, the impressions lacked some of the details of the flat plate printings. New dies were made with strengthened lines, resulting in the Type II stamps. After plate wear was noticed, further strengthening was necessary, resulting in the Type III stamps. Scott 449 was not produced until almost a year and a half after the Type I horizontal coil, Scott 453. Due to the unpopularity of vertical coils, this Type I stamp was in production for only a short period of time before being discontinued. The joint line pair offered here, in Mint N.H. condition and with such choice centering and color, is a major rarity. We doubt whether more than a handful exist in such condition.

With 1972, 1998 and 2004 P.F. certificates. P.S.E. encapsulated (VF 80, SMQ $29,000.00) (Image)

VERY FINE APPEARING PAIR OF THE RARE 1915 2-CENT TYPE I VERTICAL COIL.

With 1964 P.F. certificate (Image)

FINE-VERY FINE. A RARE SOUND USED PAIR OF THE 1915 2-CENT TYPE I VERTICAL COIL, SCOTT 449.

A review of our computerized records indicates that we have only offered two joint line pairs and three pairs (one of which was on cover) in the past 13 years.

With 2003 P.S.E. certificate (Image)

EXTREMELY FINE. A SUPERB MINT NEVER-HINGED PAIR OF THE 1916 3-CENT HORIZONTAL COIL, WHICH HAS BEEN GRADED XF-SUPERB 95 BY P.S.E. ONLY ONE PAIR HAS GRADED HIGHER TO DATE.

With 2005 P.S.E. certificate (XF-Superb 95, SMQ $4,350.00). Only three have achieved this exalted grade, and only one pair has graded higher to date. (Image)

FRESH AND VERY FINE. AN OUTSTANDING EXAMPLE OF THE VERY RARE 30-CENT PERF 10 WASHINGTON-FRANKLIN ON UNWATERMARKED PAPER.

Despite the recent P.S.E. claim that a watermark has been "discovered" on one stamp from one of the 476A panes, the vestige of a watermark on the dandy roll used to make unwatermarked paper has been known to philatelists since 1918. The unwatermarked paper supplied to the Bureau for printings of sheets that were perforated gauge 10 and 11 is known to have had "ghost" watermarks where the brass pieces were removed. We currently side with the group of philatelists who believe that the 30c Perf 10 Unwatermarked, Scott 476A, was legitimately issued.

With 1984 P.F. certificate (Image)

EXTREMELY FINE GEM. A SUPERB MINT NEVER-HINGED EXAMPLE OF THE 50-CENT PERF 10 FRANKLIN ISSUE ON UNWATERMARKED PAPER, WHICH HAS BEEN AWARDED THE GRADE OF XF-SUPERB 95 BY P.S.E. -- THE HIGHEST GRADE AWARDED TO DATE.

This 50c issue was only available in post-office stocks for a very short period of time, because it was released only three weeks prior to the beginning of the new Perf 11 series.

With 2007 P.S.E. certificate (XF-Superb 95, SMQ $14,400.00). This is the highest grade awarded to date to a Mint N.H. Scott 477 (four in total). (Image)

FRESH AND FINE-VERY FINE. A SCARCE MINT NEVER-HINGED BLOCK OF FOUR OF THE 50-CENT PERF 10 UNWATERMARKED ISSUE.

Light pencil notations on top right and bottom left stamps. With 2007 P.F. certificate not mentioning pencil notation. Scott Retail as four Mint N.H. singles (Image)

EXTREMELY FINE GEM. A HUGE MINT NEVER-HINGED EXAMPLE OF THE $5.00 MARSHALL 1917 ISSUE.

With 2006 P.S.E. certificate (XF-Superb 95 Jumbo, SMQ $2,050.00 as 95, $3,350.00 as 98). For Scott 480 in OGnh condition, the P.S.E. Population Report lists four 95J's and three 98's. (Image)

EXTREMELY FINE. A BEAUTIFUL EXAMPLE OF THE 5-CENT IMPERFORATE DOUBLE ERROR IN A BLOCK OF TWELVE WITH THE ERROR STAMPS MINT NEVER-HINGED.

During the course of production of the normal 2c plate No. 7942, three positions were noted to be defective. The plate was returned to the siderographer, who burnished out the three positions and mistakenly re-entered them using a transfer roll for the 5c stamp. The error passed unnoticed and the sheets were issued to the public Perf 10, Imperforate and Perf 11 (Scott 467, 485 and 505). The imperforate is by far the rarest of the three.

Scott Retail as two Mint N.H. error singles. (Image)