Inverted Jenny #9 In Sale

Monday I received my auction catalog for the upcoming Stacks/Sotheby's Rarities Auction which is mainly coins and currency.

To my surprise the first lot in the catalog was the Inverted Jenny that Col. Green had placed in a locket for his wife. It was the #9 position. The double sided locket also had a normal stamp.

The lots in the auction are way, way beyond my means but I can always enjoy looking at high dollar rarities.

In case anyone wants to look at the lot and read the description for themselves, it is found here: http://www.stacksbowers.com/BrowseA...Default.aspx

-MV

I examined this item a some years back when it was in another auction. The invert has a couple of corners bent, one seriously (despite their saying "trivial"). As a stamp it is probably in the $175,000 range given the condition, it will only bring more if the story appeals to a few bidders.

It did not sell at a Siegel auction in 2002, it opened at $170,000

Not surprised... this copy is too ugly for anyone whom can afford
the buy price to buy it...

Heresy, no doubt, but I find the Col Green story a good deal more interesting than the stamp!

Looks like it's selling for $164,500 including Buyer's premium.

There's no accounting for taste for those with deep pockets...

I wouldn't buy it if I could afford it...

Perhaps the bidder is a dealer with a built-in customer...

I wouldn't be surprised to see some price fix like that or try to create a bidding frenzy, if that's what you could call it.
I studied how easy this would be to do on ebay. Very simple.

It is in bad shape, but still a rare stamp no matter how it is described!

Cheers

Dave

What is fascinating is the "story" of the locket copy. Moreso than the stamps, which as noted, is a run-of-the-mill copy. Linn's printed a story and stated the reserfve price or start bid, is $85,000. My understanding is that it had the same reserve in a Harmer auction last year, but failed to sell. In my opinion, the owner (likely a dealer) is just trying different auction houses hoping to "catach a fish". In my view, the fact that it is being offered so frequently sort of tarnishes the otherwise-interesting story. But the owner wants to sell it, so is shopping it around. Spink has a good worldwide client base, so I think they might have a better shot selling it. We shall see.