2005 Rarities of the World, Part One continued...

EXTREMELY FINE. A SUPERB MINT NEVER-HINGED EXAMPLE OF THE ONE-CENT A.E.F. BOOKLET PANE. SCARCE WITH SUCH CHOICE CENTERING.

With 1996 P.F. certificate (Image)

VERY FINE EXAMPLE OF THIS RARE BOOKLET PANE. IT IS BELIEVED THAT NO MORE THAN TWENTY PANES EXIST, THE VAST MAJORITY OF WHICH ARE POORLY CENTERED. THIS WELL-CENTERED EXAMPLE RANKS AMONG THE FINEST EXTANT.

The A.E.F. booklet panes were issued in September 1917, primarily for use by the American Expeditionary Forces in Europe during World War I. Only 3,000 panes were prepared of both the 1c and 2c denominations. By October they were no longer needed for the post card rate, as Congress passed a vote allowing first-class mail to be sent free of charge by active members of the Armed Forces. Many of the panes were destroyed.

With 2001 P.F. certificate (Image)

EXTREMELY FINE. GEM. THIS IS EASILY ONE OF THE FINEST MINT NEVER-HINGED EXAMPLES OF THE PERF 11 5-CENT ERROR, RATING A P.S.E. GRADE OF XF-SUP 95.

The Perf 10 error is a notoriously difficult stamp to find in such choice condition.

With 2005 P.S.E. certificate (XF-SUP 95) (Image)

EXTREMELY FINE GEM. A SUPERB $1.00 1917 ISSUE DEEP BROWN.

According to Johl, a small number of stamps were printed in this distinctive shade early in the issue of the 1917 $1.00 stamp. During the course of the six years that the stamp was issued, all other printings were made in the normal shade.

With 2000 P.F. certificate (Image)

EXTREMELY FINE GEM. A SUPERB MINT NEVER-HINGED EXAMPLE OF THE $2.00 ORANGE RED & BLACK 1918 FRANKLIN ISSUE.

With 2000 P.F. certificate. (Image)

VERY FINE AND CHOICE UNUSED EXAMPLE OF THE 3-CENT VIOLET TYPE III ROTARY PRESS ISSUE PRINTED ON BOTH SIDES.

It is possible that the gum was removed from many of these to ascertain that the image on back was not printed on the gum.

With 1985 P.F. certificate. (Image)

EXTREMELY FINE. THE UNIQUE MINT NEVER-HINGED EXAMPLE OF THE 3-CENT TYPE IV ROTARY PRESS ISSUE, SHOWING DIFFERENT PLATE NUMBERS ON FRONT AND BACK. A REMARKABLE RARITY.

This remarkable stamp is the subject of an article in Opinions III, published by the Philatelic Foundation. In the article, author George Brett postulates that the image on back, from plate no. 8995, was either a makeready or a rejected print. The paper was then reused as an economy measure, probably also as a makeready when plate 9009 was used a few days later. This was a common practice. However, due to poor quality controls the sheet made it past the examiners and was issued. The author notes that the dates of printing can be narrowed down due to the presence of the plate numbers. Plate 8995 was used between Aug. 28 and Sep. 3, 1918. Plate 9009 was used between Aug. 30 and Sep. 3, 1918. September 1 was a Sunday and September 2 was a Labor Day holiday, so the number of days on which it could have been printed is quite small.

With 1983 P.F. certificate. Accompanied by a copy of the Opinions article. (Image)