Rare Positional 1937 2-D Sesquicentennial Block Of 20

1937 2d Sesquicentenary (150th Anniversary of the Foundation of New South Wales (1788-1938)
ACSC 175e,f,h,zf. A rare positional block of 20 (bottom left corner with John Ash imprint at right), with its unique combination of varieties, the man with a tail (first stamp top left). Pantaloon flaw (bottom row, second from left) and colour flaw on a tree, aka "Koala in a tree" (bottom row, second from left): John Ash imprint.

The entire block is mint unhinged and is very seldom seen on the market.





Man with a tail – SG £700. ACSC $1,000: Pantaloon flaw (man on far left next to tree) – SG (not listed). ACSC $1,250: "Koala in a tree" (behind first man with outstretched hand) – SG (not listed). ACSC $250

The print is not on the selvedge

Lovely piece. I have a used copy of the tail flaw, but still looking for the others. If possible, can you help point out better the pantaloon flaw? I wasn't aware of the koala flaw, and will now have to look again through my copies. Keep them coming ...

excellent block you have Rob, and I bet it is very rare.
I, like partime, wasn't aware of the "Koala" error, I'll have to revisit my copies!
Is it only in the red 2d or is it across the set that these errors occur?
Cheers

Hi Steve

It's a good variety to have.


The "Pantaloon" is actually a piece of excess ink (small dark patch) on the soldier's breeches shown with the arrow, compared to a normal image on the right.
This variety is as rare as the "man with a tail", and believe may have been overlooked by dealers and collectors alike by its not-so-easily-distinguishable appearance. A magnifier is necessary.


The excess ink attached to the side of the gum tree ("koala") shown with the arrow compared to a normal image on the right, this variety is scarce.

Rob

Hi Lawrence

The block of 20 is rare, and the triple combination is unique, and many collectors are in the same boat not knowing about the "koala" variety, neither did I until late last year.

Only the 2d red has all three errors, the 3d blue & 9d purple share the roller shift variety. I have not heard of or have seen any 2d reds with roller shifts.

Such a variety may exist but it isn't recorded in the ACSC (Australian Commonwealth Specialists' Catalogue); at the moment I do not have any roller shifts of the 3d & 9d to show, but I'm working on it.

Rob

Though you have a good explanation and an accompanying closeup, it still is a difficult one to see, but now I understand where to look. In the past, I was looking at the lower leg, near the barrel stock, and saw nothing. I'll go through my 8 copies or so and see if anything turns up.

I do find that minor ink splotches like these are sometimes confused with overinking, so I am sure many unknown copies are out there. My copy of the tail flaw was found in a 10 cent box because it actually looks like that line should be there. I've seen reference to the retouched tail flaw, but the pictures in my book are also lacking. Do you have any of those to show?

My tail flaw was posted in an earlier thread. https://goscf.com/t/27986#345829

Thanks again for posting.

I read your earlier article Steve, you say you acquired your man with a tail variety in kiloware, amazing. They are currently selling today in used condition for AU$75, even in used condition they are still a rare stamp; I bet your eyes popped out of your head when you discovered that little beauty.

I fully agree with you about ink splotches being confused with over inking. The "Pantaloon" is not the easiest to see (a very good magnifier will help), but if you have one, it is worth AU$200 used, and also, it is rarely seen for sale in any condition.

If you think you have one, enlarge it and upload the stamp, I'll be able to identify it if it is one.

I do not have the retouched "tail" flaw yet, it is valued the same as the variety, none has surfaced for me yet in mint unhinged condition, when one does I'll get it.

In used condition, the retouch is worth more than the original variety in the same condition.

Aren't the intact gutters on the right side also rare especially in unbroken pairs with uncut intact gutters in between?

Hi jogil

That's correct, the gutter on this block is also considered rare. I'm not quite sure what you mean by "unbroken pairs with uncut intact gutters in between".

You must forgive me for my confusion, It is very early morning and I haven't had any rest yet.

Rob

Rob: I meant that gutters are usually collected in stamp pairs with the gutter in between them since this is how catalogues usually list them.

There is another thread concerning John Ash Imprints, located here

https://goscf.com/t/51752#51752

Most of the copies shown are from Gutter pairs (or blocks of four), but some are from corner blocks. There is a very nice writeup in this thread also ... worth a read.

Hi jogil

I originally thought that was what you meant but was a little exhausted to think straight. That is true about the gutter position.

In late 1969 it was found that one plate had stretched to such an extent that full sheets of 200 could not be perforated without excess spoilage, hence these were cut vertically and perforated as sheets of 100 in upper and lower panes of 50, and issued in this format in 1970.

The vertical gutter pair is 25 times the value of the horizontal pair. The stamp also had another variety, they have a different shade to each other, the top is olive-green (ACSC 462A), and the bottom is light olive-green (ACSC 462B).



Rob

How did I miss this thread?? What a stunning positional block, I'm green with envy.

There are multiple stages of the Pantaloon flaw. I have a used copy of one of the retouch stages, which I'll find, scan and post.

I just thought I'd add an image of the 9d with the roller flaw in the top margin. I actually have 2 unhinged copies, both of which are for sale.

I've circled the roller flaw, and the doubling of 88 and the 3 of 38

Found it! This is the Pantaloon Flaw retouch (BW175fa - 5th state,the final stage)

Hi jubilee, I am always looking for particular varieties concerning the 1937 sesquicentennial set.

How much are you selling the unhinged copies for, and what condition are they in?

Hi Rob. The copy in the scan in the thread is pristine, white, undisturbed gum. It really is about as good as you'll see.

It's listed here at $195, but I'll reduce it 10% if you're keen

https://www.globalphilately.com/pro...op-frame-muh

The second copy is also pristine, but is centred to the north west corner. It's not listed yet, but I'd do that one for $150.