ArtHitParade
ArtHitParade on Twitter
  • Home
    • Contact
  • Next Auctions
    • Calendar
  • Top 10
    • Origin
    • From 600 BCE to CE
    • Years 1 to 1000
    • Years 1000 to 1300
    • 14th Century
    • 15th Century >
      • Years 1400-1429
      • Years 1430-1459
      • Years 1460-1479
      • Years 1480-1499
    • 16th Century >
      • Years 1500-1519
      • Decade 1520-1529
      • Decade 1530-1539
      • Years 1540-1569
      • Years 1570-1599
    • 17th Century >
      • Decade 1600-1609
      • Decade 1610-1619
      • Decade 1620-1629
      • Decade 1630-1639
      • Decade 1640-1649
      • Decade 1650-1659
      • Years 1660-1679
      • Years 1680-1699
    • 18th Century >
      • Years 1700-1719
      • Decade 1720-1729
      • Decade 1730-1739
      • Decade 1740-1749
      • Decade 1750-1759
      • Decade 1760-1769
      • Decade 1770-1779 >
        • 1776
      • Decade 1780-1789
      • Decade 1790-1799
    • 19th Century >
      • Decade 1800-1809
      • Decade 1810-1819
      • Decade 1820-1829
      • Decade 1830-1839
      • Decade 1840-1849
      • Decade 1850-1859
      • Decade 1860-1869
      • Decade 1870-1879
      • Decade 1880-1889 >
        • 1887
        • 1888
        • 1889
      • Decade 1890-1899 >
        • 1890
        • 1892
    • 20th Century >
      • Decade 1900-1909 >
        • 1904
        • 1905
        • 1907
        • 1908
        • 1909
      • Decade 1910-1919 >
        • 1911
        • 1912
        • 1913
        • 1914
        • 1915
        • 1916
        • 1917
        • 1918
        • 1919
      • Decade 1920-1929 >
        • 1920
        • 1923
        • 1925
        • 1926
        • 1927
        • 1928
        • 1929
      • Decade 1930-1939 >
        • 1930
        • 1931
        • 1932
        • 1933
        • 1934
        • 1935
        • 1936
        • 1937
        • 1938
        • 1939
      • Decade 1940-1949 >
        • 1941
        • 1942
        • 1945
        • 1947
        • 1948
        • 1949
      • Decade 1950-1959 >
        • 1950
        • 1951
        • 1952
        • 1953
        • 1954
        • 1955
        • 1956
        • 1957
        • 1958
        • 1959
      • Decade 1960-1969 >
        • 1960
        • 1961
        • 1962
        • 1963
        • 1964
        • 1965
        • 1966
        • 1967
        • 1968
        • 1969
      • Decade 1970-1979 >
        • 1970
        • 1971
        • 1972
        • 1975
        • 1977
        • 1979
      • Decade 1980-1989 >
        • 1980
        • 1981
        • 1982
        • 1983
        • 1985
        • 1986
        • 1987
        • 1988
      • Decade 1990-1999 >
        • 1993
        • 1994
        • 1996
        • 1997
        • 1998
    • Decade 2000-2009 >
      • 2000
      • 2001
      • 2006
      • 2007
    • From 2010 to Now >
      • Current Art
  • Roman Empire
  • Renaissance
  • Painting
    • Ancient Painting >
      • Oil on Copper
    • 18th Century Painting
  • Ancient Drawing
  • Art on Paper
  • Sculpture
    • Bust
    • Ancient Sculpture
    • Italian Sculpture
    • French Sculpture
  • Women Artists
    • Ancient Art by Women
    • Art by Women ca 1960
    • Current Art by Women
  • Furniture
    • Chairs and Seats
    • Colonial Furniture
    • Ancient French Furniture
    • 18th Century Furniture
    • 20th Century Furniture >
      • Art Deco
  • Prints
    • Ancient Prints
    • Modern Prints
  • Photo
    • Old Photos >
      • Travel Photos
      • Early French Photo
    • Photos 1900-1940 >
      • Photos in the 1920s
    • Photos 1970s 1980s
    • Gursky
    • Photos by Women
  • The Man
  • The Woman
  • Children
  • Man and Woman
  • Groups
  • Self Portrait
    • Self Portrait 2nd page
  • Nude
  • Abstract Art
    • Abstract Art - 2nd page
  • Landscape
    • Midi
    • Alps
    • Mountains in China
  • Cities
    • Venice
    • Paris
    • Los Angeles
  • Flowers
    • Bouquet
  • Animals
    • Bird
    • Cats
    • Horse
  • Dragon
  • Tabletop
  • Early Still Life
  • Music and Dance in Art
    • Music in Old Painting
  • Sport in Art
  • Orientalism
    • Orientalism 1830-1900
  • France
    • Louis XIV to XVI
    • Revolution and Empire
    • Louis XVIII to 2nd Empire
    • Ancient French Painting
    • Cézanne
    • Monet >
      • Monet before 1878
      • From Vétheuil to Giverny
      • Pond by Monet
    • Gauguin
    • Lautrec
    • Matisse
    • Post War French Art >
      • Klein
  • Italy
    • Italian Painting 1280-1700
    • Canaletto
    • Modigliani
    • Modern Italian Art
    • Italy 2nd page
  • Switzerland before 1940
  • Giacometti
    • Giacometti 1947-53
  • Bacon
    • Bacon before 1963
    • Bacon 1963-70
    • Later Bacons
  • UK - 2nd page
    • Ancient England
    • George I to III
    • George IV to Victoria
    • British Royals
    • Turner
    • Freud
    • Hockney
    • Doig
  • Germany
    • Ancient Germany
    • Richter >
      • Richter before 1986
    • Germany - 2nd page
  • Rembrandt
  • Van Gogh
  • De Kooning
  • Holland 2nd page
  • Old Flanders and Belgium
    • Flemish Art >
      • Rubens
    • Magritte
    • Tintin
    • Belgium 2nd page
  • Picasso
    • Picasso before 1907
    • Picasso 1907-1931
    • Picasso in the 1930s
    • Picasso 1940-1960
    • Picasso from 1961
    • Prints by Picasso
  • Spain - 2nd page
    • Ancient Spain
    • Miro
    • Spain 3rd page
  • Klimt
  • Austria 2nd page
  • USA
    • US Independence
    • Development of USA
    • US Civil War
    • Far West
    • US Painting before 1940
    • Rockwell
    • Rothko >
      • Early Rothko
      • Rothko 1957-70
    • Pollock
    • Lichtenstein >
      • Lichtenstein after 1965
    • Warhol >
      • USA by Warhol
      • Celebrities by Warhol
      • Later Warhols
    • Twombly
    • Koons
    • Basquiat
    • USA 2nd page
  • Canada
  • Central and South Americas
  • China
    • Archaic China >
      • Ritual Bronzes
    • Northern Song
    • Southern Song and Yuan
    • Early Ming
    • Later Ming
    • Early Qing
    • Qianlong
    • Modern China >
      • Sanyu
      • Zao Wou-Ki
    • New Chinese Painting
    • Chinese Porcelain >
      • Song to Yuan Porcelain
      • Ming Porcelain
      • Qing Porcelain
    • Chinese Art
    • Chinese Calligraphy
    • Jade
  • India
    • Tibet and Nepal
    • Modern India >
      • Gaitonde
  • Persia
  • Japan
  • Russia
    • Russia 1700-1900
    • Kandinsky
  • Eastern Europe
    • Chagall
  • Northern Europe
    • Munch
  • Egypt
  • Tropical Africa
    • Congo
    • Gabon
    • Mask
  • Tribal Oceania
  • Australia
    • Colonial Australia
  • Islam
  • Buddhism
    • Early Buddhist Sculpture
  • Judaica
  • Christianity
    • Madonna and Child
  • Cars
    • Birth of Automobile
    • Cars of the 1910s
    • Cars of the 1920s
    • Cars of the 1930s >
      • Cars 1930-33
      • Cars 1934-36
      • Cars 1937-39
    • Post War Cars >
      • Cars 1940-50
      • Cars 1951-53
      • Cars 1954-55
      • Cars 1956-57
      • Cars 1958-59
    • Cars of the 1960s >
      • Cars 1960-61
      • Cars 1962-64
      • Cars 1965-67
    • Cars 1970s 1980s
    • Supercars
    • Hypercars
    • Ferrari >
      • Early Ferrari
      • From LWB to GTO >
        • California Spider
      • Ferrari after 1962
    • Italian Cars
    • Mercedes-Benz
    • Porsche
    • British Cars >
      • Aston Martin
      • Jaguar
      • McLaren
    • Bugatti
    • French Cars
    • Duesenberg
    • Ford and Shelby
    • Cars - 2nd page
  • Motorcycles
  • Jewels
    • White Diamond
    • Pink Diamond
    • Blue Diamond
    • African Diamonds
    • Jewels - 2nd page
    • Cartier
  • Silverware
  • Coin
    • Gold Coins
    • Silver Coins
    • Antique Coins
    • Coins 1000-1775
    • Coins 1776-92
    • Coins 1793-99
    • Coins 1800-49
    • Coins 1850-69
    • Coins 1870-99
    • 20th century Coins
    • British Coins
    • Dollars and Eagles
    • Asian Coins
  • Paper Currency
  • Medal and Decoration
    • Nobel Medals
  • Time Pieces
    • Clocks >
      • Old Clocks
    • Mechanical Craft ca 1800 >
      • Jaquet-Droz and Followers
    • Modern Watches
    • New Watches
    • Patek Philippe >
      • Development of Patek Philippe
      • Patek Philippe 1945-1980
    • Rolex
    • Watches 2nd page
    • English Time Pieces
    • French Time Pieces
  • Glass and Crystal
    • Glass before 1900
    • Glass 1900-10
  • From Terracotta to Porcelain
    • Ceramic before 1760
  • Textiles
  • Garment
  • Fashion
  • Books
    • Incunabula
    • Books 1501-1700
    • Fine Books 1700-1850
  • Literature
    • Literature in English
    • Literature in French
  • Poems and Lyrics
  • Autograph
  • Manuscript
  • Religious Texts
  • Political Writing
  • Comic Books
  • Comic Art
  • Travel
  • Space
  • Maps
  • Cars in Movies
  • Movies
  • Music
  • Musical Instrument
    • Violin
    • Guitar
    • Musical Instrument 2nd page
  • Pop Music
    • The Beatles
  • Poster
  • Sport
    • Sport Equipment
    • Sport Document
    • Sport Rewards and Medals
    • Sport Images before 1940
    • Sport Cards 1940-70
    • Modern Sport Cards
    • Baseball >
      • Babe Ruth
      • Baseball Bat
      • Baseball Uniform
    • Basketball
    • Ice Hockey
    • Sport Memorabilia 2nd page
    • Olympic Games
  • Origins of Sports
  • Historical Arms
    • Blade and Armour
    • Colt 1836-62
    • Later Colts
    • Winchester
    • Firearms - 2nd page
  • Toys and Carousels
    • Doll
  • Games
  • Stamps
    • World Stamps
    • US Stamps
  • Inventions
  • Instrument and Equipment
  • Sciences
    • Ancient Science
    • Sciences 1600-1800
    • Sciences from 1800
    • Astronomy
    • Physics
    • Medicine
    • Natural History
  • Whisky
  • Wine
  • Past Sales

US Stamps

not including pre-US Hawaii
​See also : Stamps
​Chronology : 1918

1851 Transatlantic Postage
1993 SOLD for $ 715K including premium by Christie's Robson Lowe
​2018 UNSOLD

PRE 2018 SALE DISCUSSION

​The invention of the postage stamp by the British in 1840 facilitated the communications between nations. In an early phase it required bilateral negotiations between countries that were gradually adopting this new practice.

The treaty between Canada and the United States comes into effect on April 6, 1851, at a rate of 6 pence or 10 cents. US stamps remain available at Canadian post offices.

On April 23 the first stamp of the Province of Canada is issued. It is worth 3 cents which is the basic rate for domestic postage. With its vignette displaying a beaver, it is the first official stamp in the world to be illustrated on a theme other than portraits of personalities and national emblems.

Reverend Ryerson, a prominent Canadian Methodist educator, is temporarily in London. Somewhere in Canada, someone manages to send him a letter. The new rules must be applied but it is a little complicated. The letter will have to be embarked in New York for crossing the Atlantic.

The local postmaster accepts the postage in the following conditions. A 3-cent beaver stamp pays the transfer to the United States border. The letter will only transit through the United States and the journey between border and New York is not considered. The departure of a British steamer of the Cunard company is scheduled for May 7 and this information is written on the envelope.

The Transatlantic rate of 24 cents is paid by five 5 cent stamps. On March 3 an act of the US Congress had announced the imminent obsolescence of this original denomination of the US Postage and consequently the sender chose to pay 1 cent more than required by the US-British postal treaty of 1848, certainly for using his stock.

The transfer to New York is fast. On May 6 the letter is embarked on a US ship. Despite the 1848 treaty, competition is fierce. The New York foreign mail office collects 22 cents in this operation, avoids paying 19 cents to the Cunard, offers a discount of 2 cents and hand stamps on the cover an overpayment of 3 cents. The receipt of the letter in London is recorded by a date hand stamp on May 19.

This piece surfaces in 1944 in an auction. Known as the Beaver Cover, it is a supreme delight in philately : very fine condition, paid with a mix of stamps from the very first US and Canadian federal issues, and bearing the marks and cancellations that reveal the significant details of its routing.

The Beaver Cover was sold for $ 715K including premium by Christie's Robson Lowe on September 28, 1993. It is estimated $ 600K for sale by Robert A. Siegel in New York on October 3, lot 26. Here is the link to the section dedicated to the Gross collection on the website of the auction house.

1857 Jefferson in Red
2009 SOLD for $ 805K including premium by Robert A. Siegel
​2018 SOLD for $ 470K including premium

PRE 2018 SALE DISCUSSION

​At the first issue of postage stamps by the United States in 1847, the base rate is 5 cents. Two denominations are created : 5 cents in red brown with the portrait of Franklin and 10 cents in black with Washington. The postal success is so great that the rates go down as early as 1851. The old stamps are removed from circulation and replaced by 1 cent in blue and 3 cents in orange brown.

The withdrawal of the 5 cents and 10 cents was a bad decision. These values ​​can be used to top-up a heavier shipment or a foreign destination. They are recreated in 1856 with new portraits. The 10 cents becomes green. The new Jefferson 5 cents keeps the red brown color of the old Franklin emission.

600,000 Jefferson are printed in 1856, probably in a single run as their color is very homogeneous. This non-perforated variant is very rare. In terms of unused blocks, only two blocks of four survived. One of them was deposited in a university with an inalienable clause. The other remains the only unused block in private hands. It is estimated $ 200K for sale by Robert A. Siegel in New York on October 3, lot 35. It is graduated Very Fine and has kept its original gum.

Perforations appear and become mandatory in 1857. The 5 cents remains a rarely used value and the remaining large stocks of red brown sheets from the previous year are punched at this stage. A new printing becomes necessary in 1858. The preparation of the colors is slightly changed, with the vast majority of the sheets in Indian red and some in Brick red.

The rarity of the brick red Jefferson suggests that it had not been the subject of a separate run. It cannot be considered as an error but rather as an anomaly in the mixture of inks, early detected and corrected. The brick red sheets buried within the stacks appeared in circulation from seven months onward after the Indian red.

Only one unused brick red block survived, also consisting of four stamps. Graded Extremely Fine with its original gum, it was sold for $ 805K including premium by Siegel on January 27, 2009 over an estimate of $ 375K. It is estimated $ 400K for sale on October 3 by Siegel, lot 47.

Here is the link to the section dedicated to the Gross collection in the website of the auction house.

2018 RESULTS including premium :
Unperforated : $ 307K
Perforated : $ 470K

​​1868 The Grilled Stamps
2015 SOLD for $ 660K including premium

The grilled stamps are regular but short lived variants of US philately. The idea was to indent the stamp to discourage the cleaning of the cancellation ink. The types of grills are identified by letters which are not related to their pattern of points.

The first tests are carried out with the A Grill in 1867. The tests are promising, but the A Grill covers the entire surface of the stamp, which reduces the production yield due to an excessive mechanical stress.

The B Grill is an experimental or involuntary aberration. Used in 1868 during the phase of removal of the A Grill, it was too large against the new specified standard that was the F Grill. The four known stamps with a B Grill are 3 cents. They were circulated on a single cover in February 1869 and discovered in 1969. They have been detached later.

The 1868 Z Grill is common for some stamp values ​​but very rare for 1 cent, 10 cents and 15 cents for which it had not been planned, probably for reasons of production sequence.

The 1 cent Z Grill is known in two examples only. Only one of them is remaining in private hands. In a nice freshness, it was sold for $ 965K including premium by Robert A. Siegel in October 1998. This result is still now announced on the site of the auction house as the world record for a used US stamp.

The sale by Robert A. Siegel on June 25 in New York offers three grilled stamps among the rarest variants. Lot 3101 is one of eight known copies of the 30 cents A Grill. Lot 3102 is one of the four 3 cents B Grill discussed above. Lot 3103 is a beautiful specimen of 10 cents Z Grill, from six recorded units. The catalog value of these three stamps is respectively $ 210K, 1M and 650K.

RESULTS BEFORE FEES :
30 cents A Grill : $ 250K
3 cents B Grill : $ 575K
10 cents Z Grill : $ 325K

​1869 The Two-Colored Errors
2013 SOLD for $ 920K including premium

In 1869, the United States renew their postage stamps. Ten values ​​are released, from 1c to 90c, but only three of them maintain the tradition of featuring the heads of the great statesmen of the past. The other seven display scenes and symbols of American patriotism.

Another innovation is technical. Four of these values ​​are printed in two colors, the first step towards the modern polychromatic stamp: 15c, 24c, 30c and 90c Lincoln.

The printing is done in two stages. When the sheet is presented in reverse to its second pass, the two elements of the image are one another inverted. This error of image position did not prevent the stamps to be used.

The controls were not strict enough. Similar errors of the 1901 Pan American issue were certainly better filtered, and only a single sheet escaped the controls of the 1918 Air Post.

Coming back to the Pictorial Issue of 1869. Survivors of uncirculated inverts are very rare: their total for the three usual values ​​is estimated at 14 units. On February 9, 2008, Philip Weiss sold for $ 1.27 million including premium one of the four 24c, sound but unevenly centered and without gum.

On October 9 in New York, Robert A. Siegel sells the best known inverted example of the two other usual values. Each one is the only specimen in its category to have retained its original gum. The 15c stamp, whose colors are very fresh, is estimated $ 1.25 M. The 30c, perfectly centered, is estimated $ 1M.

The Grant administration, which has made ​​this release, had reluctantly inherited this project from Johnson and did nothing to promote it to the users. After a few months, the traditional figuration returned to the US stamp, explaining the scarcity of the Pictorial issue and of its errors.

POST SALE COMMENT

Very rare and beautiful in their class, both stamps remained however below the expected price. Before fees, the 15c stamp was sold for $ 800K and the 30c stamp for $ 600K. The auction house charges a buyer's premium of 15%.

​1869 The Pictorial Failure
​2018 SOLD for $ 740K including premium

When an operation is stopped because of public displeasure, the produced pieces acquire a high rarity. Numismatists have the 1793 Chain cent and philatelists the 1869 Pictorial stamps.

Developed by the Postmaster General of the Johnson Administration, the Pictorial series was innovative. Users did not like the small and square format, the tiny illustrations and the poor adhesion of the gum. The mixing of themes is excessive and confusing between traditional presidential portraits, official symbols, the history of the Post Office and the heroic paintings of the Capitol.

Politics got involved, pushed by disputes over the choice of the printing subcontractor. The Grant Administration had no reason to support Johnson's initiatives. The Pictorial series had been released in March 1869 just after Grant's inauguration. Its obsolescence in favor of a new series of presidential figures on an enlarged format was decided in September 1869 and the availability of the Pictorials ceased in April 1870.

The four highest denominations of the Pictorials are the first two-color stamps in production, made in two successive printing runs. The tooling is poorly designed, generating inversions of the central vignette within the frame. An unused 15c Inverted graded Very Fine with original gum was sold for $ 920K including premium by Siegel on October 9, 2013.

A block of four 24c with inverted centers and cork cancels from New York City was discovered in Liverpool in the late 1880s. It had probably contributed to mail a parcel. This unique piece has become one of the stars of philately. Graded Very Fine, it is estimated $ 750K for sale by Robert A. Siegel in New York on October 3, lot 89. Here is the link to the section dedicated to the Gross collection in the website of the auction house.

​1901 Two Invert Blocks
2009 SOLD for $ 920K including premium

Blocks are especially popular with philatelists. Interviewed by Robert A. Siegel Auction Galleries, the collector Alan Whitman explains why : Once separated, a block is lost forever for philatelists, who are therefore proud to contribute to their preservation.

Two prestigious blocks of four stamps with inverted centers are coming in the second sale of the Whitman collection, organized by Siegel in New York on April 14 and 15: a 2-cent showing a steam train and a 4-cent showing a mailcoach. Both stamps are part of the Pan American series of 1901.

It is difficult to decide whether it is really an error or an unauthorized test conducted by a manager of the United States Post Office Department.

POST SALE COMMENT

All conditions were met for these two blocks reaching top results. At this price level, it is the buyer who decides what is the most outstanding object. Ratings gave a slight advantage to the 4c, but the result is inverted (!):
$ 800 K for the block of 2c; $ 325 K for the block of 4c.
These prices are before fees.

1918 The Inverted Jenny Plate Block
2005 SOLD for $ 2.97M including premium by Robert A. Siegel
narrated in 2021

On the sheet number 8493 of the 24-cent bicolor stamp, the center image of the 100 stamps has been reversed. It was found by a bargain hunter of philatelic anomalies at the opening of the Washington DC Post Office on the first day of the emission, May 14, 1918. No other Inverted Jenny escaped the release inspection.

Colonel Green is interested in this philatelic curiosity, which is sold to him by the dealer Eugene Klein. The sheet 8493 was poorly cut, deleting the top and right margins as well as the perforations in their adjacent stamps. Green does not want to keep the whole. He recalls Klein who refers the position of each stamp on its back side before dividing the sheet into singles and blocks.

The plate number is printed in blue in the sheet margin below position 97. One of the elements kept by Green is a block of eight, 85-88 and 95-98, with its sheet margins, therefore including the  plate number.

The quality of the eight stamps was uneven. In 1944 a new owner removed individually the four stamps on the left, which had gum defects and thinning. This operation was judicious. The remaining block, consisting of positions 87, 88, 97, 98 plus the two sheet margins including the plate number, is perfect for the paper, colors, perforations, thickness, original gum and centering.

The unique Inverted Jenny plate block was sold for $ 1.1M including premium by Christie's on October 12, 1989 and for $ 2.97M including premium by Robert A. Siegel on October 19, 2005. The image is shared by Wikimedia.

Inverted jenny400
Stamps
1918

​1918 The Blocks of Colonel Green
​2019 SOLD for $ 1.45M before fees

The 24-cent Air Mail stamp is available on May 14, 1918. In the morning, the administration is informed that a full sheet with the upside-down plane has been sold to a customer in the post office of Washington DC.

Two-color editions are conducive to this type of error. The discoverer, William T. Robey, had rushed at the opening of the post office while one of his friends was doing the same in Philadelphia. Warned after the transaction, the employee had not been in position to prevent it.

In the afternoon of the same day, the sale to the public is suspended for two hours in Philadelphia, New York and Washington for an inspection of the stock and the scrap of the defective sheets.

The reaction of the administration had been extremely rapid. On May 21, when the dealer Eugene Klein buys for $ 15,000 from Robey this Inverted Jenny sheet paid $ 24 six days earlier, it already appears that the additional checks have been effective and that this example will remain unique.

A few hours later, Klein sells the complete sheet to the rich and eccentric collector Colonel Green. The centering quality of the stamps within the perforations is not homogeneous and the right edge has no margin. Green will only accept the best positions for his collection and entrusts the sale of the rest to Klein. It is at this point that Klein numbers each stamp on the reverse of the sheet to record the original position of each element.

In the 1940s the auctions of the Green deceased estate reveal his preferences : a block of eight, three blocks of four, a vertical block of two and a few single stamps. Some stamps in bad condition appear in the same sales : these are the unsold stamps which had been returned at some point by Klein to Green.

The block of eight consisted of positions 85-88 and 95-98 with the plate number printed in the bottom margin below the 97. Its condition was uneven. After the Green sale, the block was separated into a very fine block of four, retaining the inscribed bottom margin, plus four single stamps. This block of four with a hinge trace was sold for $ 2.97M including premium by Robert A. Siegel on October 19, 2005.

On September 27 in New York, Spink sells as Lot 1 one of the blocks of four from Green's selection, consisting of the central positions 45, 46, 55 and 56 of the original sheet. This block is in very fine condition with a small disturbing to the original gum which is common in the Green collection. The range of estimates, $ 2M to $ 3M, is indicated in the press release of August 23.

In the same series of auctions, lot 101 offers the position 39. This rare example of a single Inverted Jenny from the selection of Green had certainly been retained by him for its perfect centering. It is in very fine condition with a tiny hinging trace on its original gum.

Here is the link to the website of the auction house.

RESULTS BEFORE FEES :
Block of four SOLD for $ 1.45M
Position 39 SOLD for $ 425K

​1918 Jenny in a Bank Vault
​2018 SOLD for $ 1.6M including premium

The existence of the Inverted Jenny sheet, which will remain unique, is revealed by the New York Times on May 21, 1918, a few days after the release of this two-colored 24 cents stamp designed for the US Air Post. Since then the fate of its one hundred positions has been passionately followed by all lovers of philatelic errors. Before breaking the sheet, the dealer who had bought it from the discoverer had taken care to serialize each stamp on the back.

Until recently, there were two stamps that had never been located after the separation. Position 79, found in a collection with some minor flaws including the mark of a paper clip, was sold for $ 300K including premium by Leslie Hindman on February 15, 2017.

The mapping of the original separation is now complete. The last missing position, 49, surfaced in a bank vault. From the region of the sheet that displayed the best centering, this stamp had been hoarded as soon as it was purchased.

Found by a descendant of the original investor, 49 had never been handled during these one hundred years of storage away from light. It has very fresh colors and never had a hinge. It is the best specimen with an intact gum, graded Mint Never Hinged Extremely Fine 90 by the Philatelic Foundation. It is estimated $ 850K for sale by Robert A. Siegel in New York on November 15, lot 644.

Before the discovery of this time capsule, the best Never Hinged were the position 77 graded VF-XF 85, sold for $ 575K including premium by Spink on May 21, 2014 and the position 68 graded VF 80 sold for the same price, $ 575K including premium, by Siegel on October 9, 2013.

The surfacing of 49 did not overcome the best specimen from that sheet, 58, graded 95 Between Extremely Fine and Mint - Previously Hinged, which was sold for $ 1.35M including premium by Siegel on May 31, 2016.

It should be noted that all of these best specimens along with the 87-88-97-98 block that was sold for $ 2.97M including premium by Siegel on October 19, 2005, come from the six lower rows and the four right columns of the original sheet.

A superb example of the classic 1918 "inverted Jenny" error brought nearly $1.6 million at a recent auction, setting a new record https://t.co/KRszXj8aUS #philately #stamps @LinnsStampNews pic.twitter.com/kDQLEgIeeJ

— David L. Tranbarger (@dltcoins) November 17, 2018

​1918 Trials and Errors of the Airmail
​2016 SOLD for $ 1.35M including premium

May 15, 1918 is a historic date for the civil aviation: the first regular airmail service is inaugurated in Washington DC by President Wilson. It connects New York to Washington and return, with a change of plane in Philadelphia.

Shipping was set at 24c and the two-color stamp was available since the day before. The blue center displays the biplane model selected for this service, a Jenny, nickname for the Curtiss JN-4. The preparation of the stamp was made in a hurry. The die for printing the plane had been completed only six days earlier. The engraver added in the picture the serial number of the aircraft scheduled for the official inaugural flight, 38262.

We are still in the heroic time of aviation. The President is upset : he is wasting his precious time. 38262 takes off southward instead of going toward Philadelphia. The pilot tried to land in the countryside and bogged down in a swamp this plane carrying the first mailbag of the new service. Fortunately in the opposite way on the same day the first north-south transfer is successful.

Philatelists rush. One of them acquires for $ 24 a complete sheet of 100 stamps in which the blue print of the image is inverted by reference with its rose carmine frame. He does not know it yet : this error is unique.

The pieces from this Inverted Jenny sheet were dispersed shortly afterwards. Two of them can be rightly considered as the gems of US philately.

The block of four nicely centered stamps, positions 87-88-97-98, has been sold for $ 2,97M including premium by Robert A. Siegel on October 19, 2005.

The same auction house sold the best single stamp, position 58, for $ 577K including premium on June 3, 2005. It is graded by PSE XF-Sup 95 Mint OG, meaning between extremely fine and superb, not canceled, keeping its original gum (with minor hinging traces). Its centering with wide full margins contributes to its grading at 95.

Position 58 comes back at Robert A. Siegel for sale in New York on May 31, lot 275.

This #InvertedJenny stamp is the highest graded in the worldhttps://t.co/XYoBeb3YQG pic.twitter.com/Y4xTSUEfVX

— Paul Fraser (@PFCollectibles) May 12, 2016
Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.