Sale 1293 — The Vaquero Collection of Errors, Freaks and Oddities Plus Other Eclectic Selections
Sale Date — Thursday, 28 September, 2023
Category — 1869 Pictorial thru 1894-98 Bureau Issue
15c Brown & Blue, Ty. II, Center Inverted (119b). Deep rich colors, unusually choice centering for this difficult invert, target cancel leaves vignette visible
VERY FINE. THIS IS EASILY ONE OF THE FINEST USED EXAMPLES OF THE 15-CENT 1869 PICTORIAL ISSUE INVERT. IT IS SOUND, THE COLORS ARE RICH AND DEEP, THE CENTERING IS BETTER THAN ALMOST ALL OTHERS, AND THE TARGET CANCEL LEAVES THE VIGNETTE CLEARLY VISIBLE. ONLY 12 USED COPIES ARE CONFIRMED AS SOUND, BUT MANY ARE POORLY CENTERED. TRULY ONE OF THE FINEST IN EXISTENCE.
Our census of Scott 119b, available at our website, records three unused and 102 used copies (there are an additional three used examples of Scott 119c). Two of the used copies are in institutions -- the Tapling Collection at The British Library and the Miller Collection at The New York Public Library. Only 12 are confirmed as sound. An additional nine have not been seen in many years and are known only from old black and white photos so their condition is unknown, but most have poor centering. Of the 12 sound copies, almost all have perfs touching the design on at least one side. The 15c is at least as difficult to find in sound condition as the more expensive 24c and 30c inverts.
Ex De Verymont, Seymour, Ishikawa and Dr. Dauer. Census no. 119b-CAN-29. With 2012 P.S.E. certificate (F 70; SMQ $50,000.00). This is the highest grade awarded. We feel this should grade higher by virtue of the three wide and balanced margins with perfs well clear of the design at top.
3c Green, Offset Impression (147 var). Bright color, cork cancel, back with strong offset impression split vertically, some slight soiling, still Very Fine and unusual
3c Green, Offset Impression (158 var). Choice centering on stamp side with some perfs scissors-separated, lightly cancelled, back shows strong offset impression of four different stamps at an angle, Very Fine and choice
2c Lake, 2c Carmine, Misperforated (219D, 220 var). Original gum, radically misperfed with top and left selvage, the perforations are diagonal thru selvage but miraculously spare going thru the stamps, Fine, very unusual and dramatic freaks caused by a foldover
4c Columbian, Blue Error of Color (233a). Block of four, original gum, deep rich color in the unmistakable error shade, proof-like impression, hinge sensibly reinforces some perf separations at right, top right stamp has a small tear extending from a stain spot, other three stamps have small shallow thin spots where hinges were removed
FINE APPEARANCE. A RARE ORIGINAL-GUM BLOCK OF FOUR OF THE 4-CENT COLUMBIAN ERROR OF COLOR.
The 4c Columbian color error was caused by the use of a wrong batch of ink, and spectrographic analysis has shown that the blue inks of the 4c error and 1c Columbian have the same components.
Stamps from at least two panes reached collectors, and the few cancelled examples indicate that stamps used by the public came from additional panes. It is likely that a number of full sheets were printed using the wrong ink, and most of the stamps have simply been lost to philately.
Ex Hall.
1c-4c 1894-95 Bureau Issue, Misperforated and Foldovers (246/267 var). 24 items, including three singles, ten imprint and plate no. strips of three, two blocks of four and plate blocks of six and eight, all except two are 1c and 2c, includes a pre-printing paperfold, most are dramatic misperfs including one plate block with two sets of horizontal perfs, few faults to be expected but overall a Fine-Very Fine and very desirable group