24c Carmine Rose & Blue, 1918 Air Post, Grounded Plane (C3 var). Mint N.H., deep rich colors, vignette shifted significantly to bottom, unusually choice centering with wide and balanced margins

EXTREMELY FINE GEM. AN ABSOLUTELY STUNNING MINT NEVER HINGED EXAMPLE OF THE 1918 24-CENT FIRST AIR POST ISSUE GROUNDED PLANE VARIETY. THIS PHENOMENAL STAMP HAS BEEN AWARDED THE GRADE OF XF-SUPERB 95 BY P.S.E. — THIS IS THE ONLY GRADED MINT NEVER HINGED EXAMPLE OF THIS VARIETY.

The true Grounded Plane stamps, in which the wheels of the plane break thru the top of "Cents", come from portions of three sheets. The discovery sheet was owned and broken up by J. Klemann of Nassau Stamp Company. A second sheet was discovered in 1946 and sold in the Thomas A. Matthews sale (H.R. Harmer, Nov. 4, 1964), where it was purchased by Georges A. Medawar, publisher of Sanabria Airmail Catalogue. In Linn's Stamp News of April 21, 1986, specialist Joseph R. Kirker Jr. published his research revealing a third source of this variety. The example offered here is especially low.

With 2023 P.S.E. certificate (XF-Superb 95). This is the only Mint N.H. example of this variety graded by P.S.E. For hinged, there is one graded 98 (recently offered in our "Vaquero" auction), one graded 85 and one graded 80.

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