Inverted Centers of the World continued...

United States

Lot	Symbol	CatNo.	Lot Description	CV or Estimate
701	P	129aP4	#129aP4, 15c Brown and blue, Ty. III, Center Inverted, plate proof on card, a spectacular left sheet-margin block of four, featuring very large margins all around and strong fresh colors, extremely fine; an enormously rare block, as this is one of only two blocks of four recorded from the original sheet of 100; the famous early collector, the Earl of Crawford, at one time possessed complete sheets of all the 1869 Inverts on card (only one sheet of 100 of each value was ever printed), each sheet was subsequently broken into a unique imprint and plate number block of eight, two blocks of four and the remainder as singles; ex-Earl of Crawford and Finkelburg. (Image)	11,000.00 SOLD for $8,500.00 Closing..Sep-14, 01:00 PM
702	P	120aP4	#120aP4, 24c Green and violet, Center Inverted, plate proof on card, a handsome single of this rare proof error, very large and even margins all around, strong fresh colors, extremely fine; only one sheet of 100 was produced; ex-Earl of Crawford. (Image)	2,750.00 SOLD for $2,000.00 Closing..Sep-14, 01:00 PM
703	P	121aP4	#121aP4, 30c Ultramarine and carmine, Flags Inverted, plate proof on card, a particularly fresh and choice example of this rare proof, rich luxuriant colors, unusually large margins all around, extremely fine; only one sheet of 100 was produced; ex-Earl of Crawford. (Image)	2,750.00 SOLD for $1,700.00 Closing..Sep-14, 01:00 PM
704	O	119b	#119b, 15c Brown and blue, Ty. II, Center Inverted, a highly select example of this popular 19th century rarity, being among the finest quality examples available of the 91 recorded Fifteen Cent 1869 Pictorials with Inverted Centers, featuring colors that are a good deal stronger than what is most often encountered, plus its impressions are detailed on bright paper, while centered just slightly to bottom right it is sufficiently well centered to well clear its perforations all around, light circle of "V's" cancel which does not obscure the inverted central vignette, single minute perforation tip crease at bottom right, very fine for this; in our opinion this stamp is among an elite few that exist in essentially fault free condition, as the great majority are known to have serious faults and/or repairs, we estimate that less than 20% of the existing population are in such similarly choice condition; 1983 PF certificate. (Image)	18,000.00 SOLD for $11,000.00 Closing..Sep-14, 01:00 PM
705	O	120b	#120b, 24c Green and violet, Center Inverted, a most desirable used example of this important rarity that is among the most attractive of the 88 recorded examples of the Twenty Four Cent 1869 Pictorial with the Center Inverted (this number includes four unused stamps, two used pairs, one block of four and a single on cover - reducing the number of available single used examples to 75), wonderfully fresh and strong colors on bright paper, very light and unobtrusive rosette cancel which has been centrally struck, there is only a small internal crease at bottom left which is of little consequence and is, in fact, in far superior condition to the vast majority of existing examples, nearly very fine; 1997 PF certificate. (Image)	19,000.00 SOLD for $7,500.00 Closing..Sep-14, 01:00 PM
706		294a	#294a, 1c Pan-American, Center Inverted, wonderfully fresh mint example of this popular error rarity, especially deep and luxuriant colors on bright crisp paper, attractively centered, full clean o.g., lightly hinged, nearly very fine; a particularly choice stamp. (Image)	10,000.00 SOLD for $5,500.00 Closing..Sep-14, 01:00 PM
707	O	294a	#294a, 1c Pan-American, Center Inverted, vertical pair, used, each stamp in the pair is marvelously well centered amid considerably larger margins than typically associated with this error, strong rich colors on fresh paper, an especially light strike of a wavy line machine cancel, bottom stamp with a light horizontal crease at bottom left and is otherwise very fine, the top stamp is completely fault free and is extremely fine and quite choice. The One Cent Pan-American Inverts were discovered almost immediately after their issuance. It is believed that they were found to have come from at least four different post offices and perhaps between 600 and 700 might have been issued. Of course, only a small portion of this estimated quantity still survive today and nice quality mint singles, while somewhat available, are hard to come by. However, used examples of this invert are a completely different story, as they are far more rare and elusive than mint copies. While there has never been an official census taken, we believe that far less than 10% of the existing population of One Cent Pan-American Inverts is used - leading us to question the disparity of their catalog values mint versus used (currently at $10,000.00 and $8,500.00 respectively). Additionally, it has been our experience that the great majority of the used examples have faults, which are often severe. We scoured for hours many of the important United States stamps sales of the past 50+ years and found no other used multiple of the One Cent Pan-American Invert. This, coupled with the fact that the Philatelic Foundation has never issued a certificate for a used multiple of any kind, leads us to believe that the pair offered here is likely to be the only known used One Cent Pan-American Invert multiple in existence. As such, this is one of the most important Inverted Center multiples in United States philately. Accompanied by a 1994 APS certificate. (Image)	as two singles 17,000.00 SOLD for $20,000.00 Closing..Sep-14, 01:00 PM
708		295a	#295a, 2c Pan-American, Center Inverted, extraordinarily well centered amid uncharacteristically large margins, deep rich colors, full o.g. which is only slightly sweated and is, in fact, in a far more pristine state of preservation than the great majority of known examples, lightly hinged, the accompanying certificate states the stamp has a "faint corner crease" which is so inconsequential that it is almost impossible to discern, otherwise extremely fine. An extraordinarily handsome mint example of this important 20th century error rarity, being among the finest centered and largest margined copies available. There were originally 200 of these inverts that passed through the Post Office, but the number of examples which still survive today has yet to be determined with certainty, as the Datz catalog estimates a total of 150 unused singles, a mint intact block of four and 3 to 5 used singles. However, there are other estimates by knowledgeable philatelists which place the number of surviving copies at less than half the Datz estimate. In any case, the immense rarity of this popular stamp is unquestioned. An exciting opportunity to acquire one of the great, and most recognizable, rarities of United States philately. The catalog value quoted in Scott is for "examples with full original gum that is slightly disturbed." Accompanied by a 1985 PF certificate. (Image)	42,500.00 SOLD for $21,000.00 Closing..Sep-14, 01:00 PM
709	S	296aSE	#296aSE, 4c Pan-American, Centered Inverted, with "Specimen" type E overprint, an unusually fresh example of this rare Center Inverted specimen, with neat violet "Specimen." handstamp (itself inverted) at bottom left, deep luxuriant colors on uncharacteristically bright paper, plus its full original gum is not at all disturbed as is so often the case on this, lightly hinged, fine; it has been reported that a total of 203 Four Cent Pan-American Inverts were released, both with and without the "Specimen." overprint; very few of the "Specimen." overprinted examples are found fault free such as the one offered here, let alone in such an unusually pristine state of freshness. (Image)	6,500.00 SOLD for $4,250.00 Closing..Sep-14, 01:00 PM
710		296a	#296a, 4c Pan-American, Center Inverted, an exciting mint example that is among the very few completely fault free original gum Four Cent Pan-American Inverts in existence, possessing extraordinarily intense colors, full original gum, small h.r., devoid of any of the faults which plague most existing copies, fine; the Four Cent Pan-American Invert was actually a special printing with the center vignette intentionally inverted and examples were distributed via two official channels; the gum on the great majority of stamps without the "Specimen." overprint was disturbed due to their removal from mounting paper in Post Office archives, which also resulted a large number having thins or other faults associated with trying to remove the stamps from the mounting paper in a careless manner; 1997 PF certificate. (Image)	22,500.00 SOLD for $8,500.00 Closing..Sep-14, 01:00 PM
711		1610c	#1610c, $1.00 Rush Lamp and Candle Holder, Intaglio Brown Inverted, exceptionally well centered, unusually full and even perforations all around (including all four corners) o.g., n.h., faint trace of slight gum disturbance of little significance, extremely fine; a handsome example of the so-called "C.I.A. invert", so named as the sole pane of 100 was purchased at the McLean, Va. post office by employees of the C.I.A. for use on agency mail, noticing the error the employees bought a replacement sheet and kept the error for themselves, 95 out of the original 100 stamps can be accounted for, with the other five presumably having been used on mail and none of these have ever been found. (Image)	13,000.00 SOLD for $11,500.00 Closing..Sep-14, 01:00 PM
712		1610c	#1610c, $1.00 Rush Lamp and Candle Holder, Intaglio Brown Inverted, a choice mint sheet-margin single of this famous error, the so-called "C.I.A." invert, this particular copy being the even more rare and distinctive "white stripe" variety, which only occurred on one sheet margin side, with only eight such varieties recorded, pristine o.g., n.h., extremely fine; ex-Lyons. (Image)	13,000.00+ SOLD for $14,000.00 Closing..Sep-14, 01:00 PM
713		R103a	#R103a, 1c Blue and black, Center Inverted, an impressive unused example of this rare stamp, possessing uncharacteristically large margins, well centered, strong colors on fresh paper, choice very fine; seldom seen this nice; 1998 APS certificate. (Image)	1,500.00 SOLD for $2,400.00 Closing..Sep-14, 01:00 PM
714	O	R104a	#R104a, 2c Blue and black, Center Inverted, a particularly handsome used example of this rarity, being in far better condition than the vast majority of known copies, featuring wonderfully bright colors and a neat unobtrusive manuscript cancel, rather well centered, very fine; there are approximately 35 known singles and no known multiples of this invert (19 of which have been certified), of the existing population less than a third are found without any faults; 1999 APS certificate. (Image)	6,000.00 SOLD for $5,000.00 Closing..Sep-14, 01:00 PM
715	O	R104a	#R104a, 2c Blue and black, Center Inverted, used, lightened manuscript cancel, rather well centered when compared to most existing copies, couple of light creases not mentioned on accompanying certificate; nearly very fine appearance for this rarity; 1986 PF certificate. (Image)	6,000.00 SOLD for $1,100.00 Closing..Sep-14, 01:00 PM
716	O	R107a	#R107a, 5c Blue and black, Center Inverted, unusually well centered for this, rich luxuriant colors, roller pin holes cancel causing a couple of nibbed perfs. at right, very fine; approximately 42 singles exist of this error (and there are no known multiples), very few possess centering as choice as the example offered here; 1974 PF certificate; ex-Donaldson. (Image)	2,750.00 SOLD for $1,500.00 Closing..Sep-14, 01:00 PM
717	O	R109a	#R109a, 10c Blue and black, Center Inverted, handsome used example of this rare and extremely challenging invert to find in any kind of collectable quality, deep luxuriant colors, while centered a bit to left this is actually far better centered than most of the existing population, neat dated herringbone cut cancel, nearly very fine for this; there are approximately 52 known singles and one pair of this invert (21 of which have been certified); 1999 APS certificate. (Image)	for fine 2,000.00 SOLD for $725.00 Closing..Sep-14, 01:00 PM
718		R115b	#R115b, 50c Blue and black, Center Inverted, a remarkable quality mint example of this invert, possessing flawless centering amid lavishly large margins which are most uncharacteristic, especially rich and strong colors on crisp paper, full o.g., extremely fine; gem examples of any of the revenue inverts are truly rare and desirable, especially when found mint; 1990 PF certificate. (Image)	Est. 1,500-2,000 SOLD for $1,700.00 Closing..Sep-14, 01:00 PM
719	O	R115b	#R115b, 50c Blue and black, Center Inverted, used, usual light herringbone cut cancel, well centered, rich colors, very fine; 1998 APS certificate. (Image)	850.00 SOLD for $500.00 Closing..Sep-14, 01:00 PM
720	O	R115b	#R115b, 50c Blue and black, Center Inverted, handsome used horizontal pair, very light and unobtrusive manuscript cancels, deep rich colors, quite well centered, right stamp with small natural wood pulp inclusion, nearly very fine for this; one of only five pairs recorded in the Curtis census; ex-Joyce. (Image)	1,750.00 SOLD for $1,250.00 Closing..Sep-14, 01:00 PM