U.S. 1880 special printing, other attractive stamps in March 8-9 Cherrystone auction

By Charles Snee

Cherrystone Philatelic Auctioneers will present more than 1,300 lots of desirable 19th- and 20th-century United States stamps and choice stamps and postal history from around the world during a sale to be conducted March 8-9 at the firm’s gallery in Teaneck, N.J.

The two-day auction will take place over four sessions, with sessions each day at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. Eastern Time.

In an overview on its website, Cherrystone said the sale will open with “United States and Possessions, including 19th and 20th Century single rarities, graded items, proofs, essays and back of book material.”

Additional highlights include selections from the collections of John Abrams, M.K. Blumenthal and other esteemed collectors.

Worldwide offerings of note include “specialized Bulgaria, Ottoman Bosnia & Herzegovina, China with Liberated Areas covers, Germany with a focus on WWII Occupation Issues, Great Britain and British Commonwealth, including Boer War postal history,” according to Cherrystone.

Additional temptations for bidders include Italy and Italian states rarities, and scarce stamps and postal history from South America and Central America.

The auction closes with a substantial selection of large lots and collections “ranging from single country albums to specialized collections, multi-carton worldwide groups and large cover lots offered intact,” Cherrystone said.

Among the scarcer U.S. items is an unused 1880 American Bank Note Co. special printing of the 6¢ dull rose Abraham Lincoln stamp (Scott 195) without gum as issued.

Cherrystone describes the stamp as having full perforations on all sides along with fresh color. An accompanying 2021 Philatelic Foundation expertizing certificate states that the stamp is “genuine with a thin spot.”

According to Cherrystone, just 26 examples of Scott 195 “have been certified and most of them have some degree of faults.”

A sound very fine example of Scott 195 is valued at $67,500 in the Scott Specialized Catalogue of United States Stamps and Covers. The value is italicized to indicate that limited market data was available to the Scott editors to establish one.

Cherrystone is offering this 1880 special printing of the 6¢ dull rose Abraham Lincoln stamp with an opening bid of $15,000.

A handsome unused example of one of the iconic Queen Victoria issues of Great Britain, the £5 bright orange stamp issued in 1882 on paper watermarked two anchors (Scott 93), is up for bids in the auction.

Cherrystone describes the stamp as having beautiful color and the “barest trace of a hinge” on gum that appears to be never hinged.

The check letter “B” appears in the bottom left corner of the design, and the check letter “E” is in the bottom right corner.

Check letters indicate the position of the stamp in the printed sheet. The bottom left letter indicates the row, and the bottom right letter indicates the column.

Therefore, the £5 bright orange Queen Victoria in the Cherrystone sale is from the fifth position in the second row of the sheet.

Accompanying the stamp are expertizing certificates from the British Philatelic Association, Ing. Alberto Diena and the Royal Philatelic Society London issued in 1958, 1973 and 2015, respectively. All three certificates attest that the stamp is genuine and without faults.

Against a Scott Classic Specialized Catalogue of Stamps and Covers 1840-1940 value of $14,000, Cherrystone lists this stamp with a starting bid of $6,500.

A footnote following the listing for Scott 93 in the Scott Classic Specialized catalog provides additional guidance regarding value, “For examples of Nos. 90-93 with margins clear of the design on all four sides, add a 25 percent premium to the value listed.”

The margins of the stamp in the sale meet the premium standard, which raises the catalog value to $17,500.

Among the numerous large lots and collections to be offered at the end of the sale is an impressive 1950s collection of 53 airmail and registered covers from North Korea. Destinations include Czechoslovakia, Sweden and Switzerland. Included in the collection are many scarce items, Cherrystone said.

All of the covers are pictured with the lot description. Many of the envelopes are festooned with colorful arrays of stamps that give them great eye appeal.

Cherrystone is offering this assemblage of North Korean postal history with an opening bid of $2,300.

The catalog for the March 8-9 sale can be viewed and is available for download on the Cherrystone website, with online bidding options available.

Information also is available from Cherrystone Philatelic Auctioneers, 300 Frank W. Burr Blvd., Second Floor, Box 35, Teaneck, NJ 07666.

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