U.S. stamps, errors, postal history, more in Oct. 26-28 Kelleher Flagship auction

By Charles Snee

Daniel F. Kelleher Auctions will present an extensive array of United States stamps, essays, proofs and postal history during a three-day sale to be held Oct. 26-28 at its gallery in Danbury, Conn. Each day of this Flagship Series sale will commence at 10 a.m. Eastern Time.

The auction includes more than 1,650 lots and features material from the late William S. Langs; the Robert H. Miller, David Gillette and Forstad collections of quality U.S. issues; and final offerings from the impressive Crimson collection of choice U.S. and possessions stamps.

U.S. stamps from the classic period through modern issues are the focus of the first two days of the sale, along with an extensive selection of modern errors, freaks and oddities. The sale concludes Oct. 28 with back-of-the-book issues, possessions and Confederate States.

One of the more desirable errors to come up for bids is a used 1869 24¢ Pictorial stamp with the violet center inverted (Scott 120b).

Kelleher observes that the stamp is fresh with clean colors and margins clear of the design on three sides. The stamp bears a “light cork rosette cancel leaving the design clearly visible,” according to Kelleher.

The accompanying 2009 Professional Stamp Experts certificate states that this 1869 24¢ Pictorial invert is “genuine used, with a cork cancel.” Kelleher notes that a “tiny perforation tip tear at top left” is not mentioned on the PSE certificate.

A used example of the 1869 24¢ Pictorial invert is valued at $37,500 in the Scott Specialized Catalogue of United States Stamps and Covers. This value is in italics to indicate an item that can be a challenge to value accurately due to limited market data.

“Most examples of No. 120b are faulty,” according to a footnote in the Scott U.S. Specialized catalog. “Values are for fine centered examples with only minimal faults.”

Kelleher has listed this 1869 24¢ Pictorial invert with an estimate of $15,000 to $20,000 and an opening bid of $7,500.

EFO collectors will have numerous opportunities to add interesting items to their collections during the Kelleher sale.

One of more eye-grabbing errors is a 2002 37¢ Flag double-sided booklet pane of 20 with die cutting omitted on the eight-stamp side and 11 of the 12 stamps on the other side printed entirely on the liner paper (Scott 3636f). Both sides of this dramatic error are shown here.

The printed bottom left corner of the left stamp in the bottom row on the 12-stamp side is still affixed to the liner paper. The rest of the stamp paper had been torn from the backing paper before printing commenced.

Kelleher describes this spectacular printing and production miscue as “a most striking — and certainly rare — error” and offers it with an opening bid of $500 against an estimate of $1,000 to $1,500.

A dash is shown in the unused value column for Scott 3636f in the Scott U.S. Specialized catalog because not enough market data is available to establish a value.

Kelleher has prepared a single 418-page catalog for the three-day Flagship Series auction that is available for viewing and download on the firm’s website, with online bidding options available on Stamp Auction Network.

For additional information, contact Daniel F. Kelleher Auctions, 22 Shelter Rock Lane, Unit 53, Danbury, CT 06810.

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