2c Harding, Rotary Perf 11
(613). Much better centering than usual with wide even margins on three
sides, right perfs just clear, sharp impression, very light slogan machine
cancel, tiny natural paper inclusion visible only on backFRESH AND FINE. ONE OF THE FEW SOUND AND ATTRACTIVE SINGLES OF THE 43 2-CENT HARDING ROTARY PERF 11 STAMPS RECORDED IN OUR CENSUS.
Our census of the 2c Harding Rotary Perf 11 (see Zoellner sale, Appendix, p. 389) records 39 used singles (one faintly cancelled, if at all) and two used pairs. Of the singles, 22 are sound, but of these quite a few are centered strongly to one corner.
The 2c Harding Rotary Perf 11 stamp was first discovered in 1938 by Leslie Lewis of the New York firm, Stanley Gibbons Inc. The Weills discovered three additional singles among unsorted 2c stamps soaked off envelopes postmarked at New Orleans, circa November 1923.
Gary Griffith presents his hypothesis in United States Stamps 1922-26 that rotary-printed sheets of 400 were first reduced to panes of 100 and then fed through the 11-gauge perforating machine normally used for flat plate sheets. This method distinguishes sheet-waste stamps--Scott 544, 596 and 613--from the coil-waste stamps and explains the existence of a straight-edge on Scott 613.
Census No. 613-CAN-04. Signed Weill. With 1986 P.F. certificate (Image)
1c-10c Kans., Nebr. Overprints
(658-679). Each set on first day covers, stamps tied by bold
strikes of "Washington D.C. May 1, 1929 10:00 PM" duplexes and both
addressed to Mr. C. C. Hendrix in New York, red Air Mail cachet at bottom
left, a fresh and Very Fine matched set of first day covers, the Kans.
cover with 1977 P.F. certificate (Image)
$1.00 Presidential, USIR Wmk.
(832b). Mint N.H. double plate no. block of twenty, the two top rows of
the sheet complete with selvage at both sides, clearly showing the
watermark, usual natural gum skips and bends typically found on this issue
Very Fine-Extremely Fine plate block, Scott Retail as plate no. block of
four and sixteen singles (Image)
$1.00 Candle Holder, Intaglio
Brown Color Inverted (1610c). Mint N.H., fresh colors and
well-centeredEXTREMELY FINE AND CHOICE. A PRISTINE EXAMPLE OF THIS POPULAR MODERN ERROR.
Popularly called the "C.I.A. Invert", a single pane of 100 stamps was purchased at a the McLean Va. Post Office by employees of the C.I.A., for use on mail from the agency. They noticed the error, pooled together funds to buy a replacement sheet and kept the pane for themselves. When it was discovered who had purchased the stamps, a scandal ensued over who actually owned the stamps. Of the pane of 100, only 79 sound examples reached collectors. (Image)