1851 US One Cent Franklin - 99r2

Just got my 99R2 certified by PSE. Does anyone have a guess as to the population of this stamp? It was a fantastic find and thought I would share with the Stamp Community Family.

It looks about right, but a scan / better picture would be nice.

99R2 drawing
https://goscf.com/t/58151&whichpage=8#646856

Here is another pic.

Actually the resolution is worse. Guess I shouldn't quit my day job to become a photographer.

Mongoose23 - I like your 99R2. Did you get a grade from the PSE? I'd be curious, because I think they grade imperforates too harshly. For me, less than perfect centering on an imperforate stamp just isn't as distracting as it is on a perforated one. I think it is much more important that the cancel doesn't obscure key identifying features, especially on a stamp like a 99R2.

Here is one that I bought at a Siegel sale 1216 in February. It came back from the PF graded 90. Assuming it's worth about 50% of a standard cancel, I'm very happy with the price I paid.

widglo - The Middendorf 99R2 you have is a very nice item.

Not just because it shows 4 margins, but because it is sound. At least per the description. Middendorf had some great stuff.

Regarding population of 99R2's, the really hard thing to do is to find a "sound" decent looking 99R2. Those are definitely truly rare items. So many 99R2's that look nice have at least one fault.

Imperforate 99R2's in general, can be found - I wouldn't call them rare. I would guesstimate less than 100 remain.

Perforate - maybe 30-40.

Thanks for your comments, txstamp - I'm feeling better all the time that I made a wise purchase.

It's interesting to me that 89R2, while just as rare, is worth a just a small fraction as much as 99R2. I know 89R2 is a #7, but it would seem it should have as least some of the same kind of notoriety 99R2 has. Neinken, after all, wrote that it is the a "stamp showing the most pronounced double transfer, or reentry, on any U.S. stamp". I feel lucky to own a nice fault-free example of both.

On pages 18-20 of "The 1851 Issue of United States Stamps: a Sesquicentennial Retrospective", you will find a good write-up on the goings-on in the lower-right portion of plate 2, including 89R2 and 99R2.

This is part of the article "The Toppan Carpenter Plates and the Guide Reliefing Method".

You can find the book online here:
https://www.uspcs.org/resource-cent...nic-library/

mongoose, you called your 99R2 a fantastic find. May we infer from this that it was not identified as such when you came across it? If this is the case, well done and congratulations!

Nice stamp, Widglo46! My 99R2 was identified as Scott #20 on ebay. It was bid up a bit, as I wasn't the only one that found it was misidentified. Had it certified by PSE and came back with a "tiny thin", otherwise very clean. I did not have it graded, just certified as authentic.

mongoose - congratulations on your find. Its a nice appearing copy.