The William Gross Sale Siegel October 3RD 2018

Good luck. I'd love to see your scan once you get it.

I just received my Gross catalog today.Although I intended on going to the sale, I also had reservations about actually buying anything. The next Gross session which will feature the US singles is what really piqued my interest. However, after perusing the present catalog several times, I find myself gravitating towards items I formerly would not have considered. I guess from this standpoint, Scott Trepel and his group have done their jobs. The quality of the catalog is like nothing that I have ever seen. Siegel never goes halfway, and in this instance they've really outdone themselves.

When the Ishikawa sale came out in 1993, I recall spending several days working through my budget, trying to make the numbers add up to some of the nicer things in there. They didn't, but I picked up a few of the way lesser items years later.

The funny thing - the scraps from that sale - the 'cheaper' stuff, when re-sold, in later random sales, usually tended to be a highlight of whatever sale it was in.

Here's a question for those far smarter than myself: Outside of Lot #32 (#7/9 1c Blue complete pane), are there any other classic imperforate U.S. intact panes known? Perhaps #10/#11 exist in this format??

Not many.
Stanley Piller had a right pane of 100 from Plate 3 of the 3c 1851 many years back.
Those would be #11A's.
I have no idea if its still intact.

There used to be an intact pane of 100 from Plate 2 of the 1c stamp (#7s, 1 #8). It was broken up in the 90's.

There was an intact unused left pane from Plate 4 of the 1c stamp, perforated. It was in Neinken's collection. I'm not sure what its status is now.

Revcollector, I downloaded that image as soon as I saw it. It is about 400dpi. It is usable as an overall image but not really enough for plating. I will use those images if I cannot get better just to have an image of the position. It shows a lot of plating marks and the guide dots well but some need a closer look. I need close-ups.

Edit: I would urge anyone interested in the 1c Franklins to download that image. It is very useful in plating and shows the recut version of the #5 and #5A. A good learning tool.

When I asked some top experts about the earliest cat number still in sheets about 5 years ago, I was told that there are still a few #11 sheets around. So I suspect that there still are at least some.

The lot description in Piller's sale says that in 1993 there were 4 3c sheets.

I should have read that earlier.

Gordon Eubanks has a full sheet of the 3c imperforate (plate 3) and a "block" of 82 of the 1c perforate (plate 1L) in his exhibit.

See:
http://www.rfrajola.com/GE14/GE14.htm

Good luck Reedededge. Hard to buy anything in these named sales. I can remember being nearly blanked at the Ammonette sale, but finally managed to win a few lots in the 2nd session. Since then, I'm weary of named sales.

I do believe that I am saving my ammo for later Gross sales.

I too am more interested in Gross's National album, as that's where all the singles that I need for completion lie. But, I am not ignoring the significance of this sale or the "special nature" of its contents. Yes, these items will sell for A LOT-as they should. Anybody who is a serious U.S. collector, I'm sure recognizes, that most if not all of the current Gross lots would centerpiece even an advanced collection. If I'm lucky enough to buy a few (or even one) of these treasures, they will represent a very special and cherished part of my collection. On a side note, the Gross catalog is as good as anything that I have EVER seen come out of an auction company for any collectible. It is a valued reference work, and for those of you not on Siegel's mail list, you might want to think seriously about ponying up $50 to get a copy. It's worth it IMHO.....

Like rogdcam and Reedededge, I am going to be very interested when the off-cover singles go on the block in a subsequent Gross sale. But I can't help but be fascinated by the awesome nature of the material in this first Gross sale. And as Reedededge and others have said, the catalog is unbelievably outstanding. I will for sure be a very interested and entertained "looky-loo" for this first sale. Good luck to all the first sale bidders!!!

Given that the total estimate for this first sale is less than a quarter of the 40 million dollar estimate for all of the Gross sales there will be many opportunities to acquire some great items in the coming year.

Looking over the catalog in detail, I did not know there was a plate crack on the Franklin carrier. Does anyone know if the reprints also showed the crack?