This may be a bit premature, since although the bidding is done neither the payment nor the lot is even in the mail yet. But I am so pleased I cannot wait.
Yesterday was a wonderful day for me. I was able to snag an item that has been high on my want list for a few years now. It is a nice pair of #225P5, the imperf proof on stamp paper, fully gummed from the small Bank Notes of 1890. It is one of two items I need to complete a certified or certifiable grouping of all the known Bank Note imperf stamps and stamp paper proofs.
Here is a blowup of the pic the auction house had made:
These are harder to come by than you might expect. Although the 1890 imperfs on stamp paper are not usually hard to find, the 8c is a particularly rare item.
About two years ago I was offered a pair at $1000 from a well known proof dealer. At the time that was full catalog, as it is today, and I had to think about it. For a full year I could not bring myself to pay that for it. However, after looking for a full year I did not see another example come along. In that same period I found lots of 30c and 90c pairs offered, but not the 8c.
So a year ago I decided to bite the bullet and asked my dealer friend if he still had it. He said he did. At the same price? Same price. I gave him the okay for an order, but after a few days he got back to me and said that the pair was not to be found in his stock. This came as a bit of a shock, because in the meantime I had managed to assemble a group of all but two of the known imperf proofs and stamps for my specialty.
Yesterday this pair came up for auction, and I managed to get it, and for considerably less than I would have had to pay the dealer. So now I am but one stamp type short of a complete group for all the large and small Bank Note imperf plate proofs on stamp paper, including one that is so far not listed.
Care to take a guess about which stamp paper imperf is still missing from my collection?
Posted 10/27/2015 5:47 pm
