United States Stamps and Postal History continued...

VERY FINE. AN EXCEEDINGLY SCARCE EXAMPLE OF THE 1851 ONE-CENT TYPE Ib PAYING THE CIRCULAR RATE DURING THE FIRST MONTH OF ISSUE.

Position 6R1E, along with Position 8R1E, yield the two best examples of the scarce Type Ib. The stamp offered here is interesting in that it also shows part of the top margin of the position below it, 16R1E. The spacing between the first and second row on Plate 1E was so narrow that the top portion of the design of 16R1E practically overlaps the position above. The stamp offered here is an excellent illustration of this characteristic of the plate.

Ex Hind (where acquired by the Halls in that 1933 auction). (Image)

VERY FINE. AN EXCEEDINGLY RARE ORIGINAL-GUM EXAMPLE OF THE ONE-CENT TYPE Ia IMPERFORATE. ESPECIALLY RARE WITH THE CURL IN "C" OF "CENT" VARIETY.

The Curl in "C" of "Cent" variety was caused by a thread adhering to the relief on the transfer roll. This also caused the Curl on Shoulder variety on Position 97L4.

The Curl in "C" variety was used by Neinken on p. 275 of his 1c book as additional proof that the same relief was used to enter the 6th and 10th rows of the plate. Neinken states that the thread attached itself to the relief on the transfer roll after Position 57R4 was entered. The variety is then found on Position 97R4 (the position offered here and the first position to receive this variety) and also on Positions 56R4, 96R4, 55R4 and 95R4. The thread either dropped off or was removed after entry of 95R4, as 54R4, the next position to be entered from this relief, does not show the variety.

With 1978 and 1995 P.F. certificates (Image)

EXTREMELY FINE STAMP AND ATTRACTIVE FRESH COVER. ONE OF THE FEW COVERS IN EXISTENCE BEARING A SUPERB 1851 ONE-CENT TYPE Ia IMPERFORATE STAMP.

Type Ia was furnished by only eighteen of the 1,000 plate positions that produced imperforate 1c 1851 stamps. These eighteen bottom-row positions have the complete bottom die design. As serious collectors know, sound four-margin examples of the 1c 1851 Type Ia are rare. Only a handful of Extremely Fine examples are known on covers, although they currently do not command much of a premium over comparable off-cover stamps. As more of today's stamp collectors develop an interest in classic covers, we expect to see greater appreciation of a cover such as this one, which graced the important collections formed by Caspary, Lehman, Grunin and Zoellner.

With 1998 P.F. certificate (Image)

VERY FINE APPEARANCE AND EXTREMELY RARE. THE PHILATELIC FOUNDATION HAS CERTIFIED FEWER THAN TEN EXAMPLES OF THIS PRECANCEL.

Several different "Paid" precancels are known on the 1c 1851 Issue. The most widely known are those in either all upper-case or all lower-case type. Two pairs are known with a combination of both types. Both styles of "Paid" precancel are very rare. At the time of our Dr. Morris sale in 1997, the Philatelic Foundation had certified only six copies in total -- three of each type.

The example offered here was purchased by the Halls in 1932 and is offered to the market for the first time since that sale. (Image)

EXTREMELY FINE. AN OUTSTANDING PAIR OF THE IMPERFORATE TYPE IV ONE-CENT 1851 ISSUE WITH UNCOMMONLY LARGE MARGINS AND WITH CLEAR STRIKES OF A SAN FRANCISCO CANCELLATION. SUPERB IN EVERY RESPECT.

With 1998 P.F. certificate (Image)