The New Amsterdam Collection of United States Rarities
July 10, 2019
The New Amsterdam Collection of United States Stamps sold for close to $7 Million on 10th July 2019. Hundreds of floor and internet bidders competed for just 220 lots at auction which took almost four hours to complete. With the final hammer, the New Amsterdam Collection took its rightful place among the most valuable stamp collections in philatelic history.
The New Amsterdam Collection was formed over fifty years ago, its mission to complete spaces in a newly acquired Scott National Postage Album. Most of the material was acquired through Dumont Stamp Company, an old established and respected dealership which was in midtown Manhattan in the 1970s.
Competition was intense, especially for the top items. The absolute highlights of the auction were the two 1867 "Z" Grills, each with a pre-sale estimate of $750,000. The 10c green (Washington) fetched $1,150,000 and 15c gray black (Lincoln) $1,610,000, the latter setting a record for a single United States stamp sold at auction.
Additional rare Grills realized $661,250 for a 3c "B" Grill and $172,500 for a 30c "A" Grill. Other noteworthy results include $287,500 for 1869 30c Pictorial with Inverted flags and $402,500 for 24c Inverted Jenny. A rare 2c coil pair estimated at $300,000 was hammered down at $805,000. All results include Cherrystone's 15% buyer's premium.
| Images | Description | Current Bid |
 | Lot #137 1880 Special Printing of the 1879 Issue 1880 1c dark ultramarine, unused without gum as issued, wide margins, beautiful color and completely sound, tiny natural inclusions at top left and at right, v.f., with 1952 and 2019 Philatelic Foundation certificates. Siegel Census records only 26 examples (this being 192-UNC-22), with more than half reported to have faults, ex-Huber, (*) Catalog #192 Catalog Value $57,500 | Unsold |
 | Lot #138 1880 Special Printing of the 1879 Issue 1880 2c black brown, unused without gum as issued, fairly well centered, nice color, nearly v.f., with 1947 and 2019 Philatelic Foundation Certificates. Siegel Census records 48 certified examples, of which almost half have faults (mostly thins, which are endemic to this soft porous paper). Of the sound examples, nearly all are centered to top or one side, ex-Vahan Mozian, (*) Catalog #193 Catalog Value $16,000 | Price Realized $6,000.00 |
 | Lot #139 1880 Special Printing of the 1879 Issue 1880 3c blue green, unused without gum as issued, intense shade and detailed impression, excellent centering for this difficult issue, v.f., with 1943 American Philatelic Society Board of Examiners certificate and 2019 graded PFC (VF-XF 85). One of the rarest of the Special Printings, not included in the 14 recorded in the Siegel Census (SMQ $185,000 for VF-80 and $300,000 for XF-90) (Scott catalogue value for graded VF-XF85) (*) Catalog #194 Catalog Value $215,000 | Price Realized $130,000.00 |
 | Lot #140 1880 Special Printing of the 1879 Issue 1880 6c dull rose, unused without gum as issued, natural straight edge at right, fine and extremely rare sound copy of this Special Printing, only 26 certified examples have been recorded, with 1951 and 2019 Philatelic Foundation Certificates, (*) Catalog #195 Catalog Value $67,500 | Price Realized $15,000.00 |
 | Lot #141 1880 Special Printing of the 1879 Issue 1880 7c scarlet vermilion, unused without gum as issued, well centered, with wide margin at top, v.f., with 2019 PFC. Siegel Census records fewer than 85 copies, many with faults, (*) Catalog #196 Catalog Value $6,750 | Price Realized $4,000.00 |
 | Lot #142 1880 Special Printing of the 1879 Issue 1880 10c deep brown, unused without gum as issued, well centered for this difficult issue, fresh, signed Luff, with 1943 APS Board of Examiners certificate and 2019 PFC. Siegel Census records 33 certified examples. Of these, several are poorly centered and ten or more are faulty (seven, including the example in this auction, have not been examined in many years). A splendid 10c Special Printing, v.f., ex-Col. Green, (*) Catalog #197 Catalog Value $34,500 | Price Realized $16,500.00 |
 | Lot #143 1880 Special Printing of the 1879 Issue 1880 12c blackish purple, unused without gum as issued, well centered for this difficult issue, fresh and fine, with 1952 and 2019 Philatelic Foundation Certificates. Siegel Census records 64 certified examples, many with faults and poorly centered. A rare Special Printing, (*) Catalog #198 Catalog Value $9,500 | Price Realized $4,500.00 |
 | Lot #144 1880 Special Printing of the 1879 Issue 1880 15c orange, unused without gum as issued, intact perforations on all four sides, centered slightly to upper left, a fine sound example, with 1951 and 2019 Philatelic Foundation Certificates. Siegel Census records 37 certified examples. Of these, only 12 are confirmed as sound, 10 have faults and 15 need to be reexamined according to current methods and standards. Many of the stamps, regardless of condition, are off center, (*) Catalog #199 Catalog Value $29,000 | Price Realized $10,000.00 |
 | Lot #145 1880 Special Printing of the 1879 Issue 1880 24c dark violet, unused without gum as issued, centered slightly to top, sharp impression, with intact perforations on all sides, fine, less than 70 thought to exist, with 2019 PFC, (*) Catalog #200 Catalog Value $9,000 | Price Realized $3,500.00 |
 | Lot #146 1880 Special Printing of the 1879 Issue 1880 30c greenish black, unused without gum as issued, wide margins, centered to bottom, fine, with 1950 and 2019 Philatelic Foundation Certificates (Siegel Census records approximately 45 certified examples, of which only 10 are sound and only seven of those have decent centering. Another 17 need to be re-examined for condition, but only a handful of these have nice centering) (*) Catalog #201 Catalog Value $20,000 | Price Realized $5,750.00 |
 | Lot #147 1880 Special Printing of the 1879 Issue 1880 90c dull carmine, unused without gum as issued, wide margins, fresh and fine, a rare sound copy, pencil signed on back, with 2019 PFC. Siegel Census records approximately 41 certified copies, thins or more serious faults affect about half of the known examples, (*) Catalog #202 Catalog Value $29,000 | Price Realized $10,000.00 |
 | Lot #148 1880 Special Printing of the 1879 Issue 1880 2c scarlet vermilion, unused without gum as issued, beautiful color, well centered for this difficult stamp, v.f., pencil signed W.H.C. Colson, with 1957 and 2019 Philatelic Foundation Certificates. Siegel Census records only 19 stamps available to collectors, five of which have small faults or short perforations (the 20th copy is in the Miller collection at The New York Public Library). The example offered in this sale has not been seen since 1957 and is number 203-UNC-18 in the census. It is certainly one of the best with respect to color and centering. A slightly off centered copy brought $40,000 in our David Mace sale (April 2018) (*) Catalog #203 Catalog Value $100,000 | Price Realized $40,000.00 |
 | Lot #149 1880 Special Printing of the 1879 Issue 1880 5c deep blue, unused without gum as issued, well centered with wide margins on all sides, fresh color, v.f. One of the rarest Special Printings, with 1950 and 2019 Philatelic Foundation Certificates. Siegel Census records only 18 examples of this Special Printing, including one copy in the Miller collection at The New York Public Library. About one third have minor faults. This is No. 204-UNC-16 in the Census, not seen since 1950 and certainly among the finest recorded. Comparable copies have realized $190,000 (Wingate Collection, Siegel Auctions, 2018) and $170,000 (Hall Collection, Siegel Auctions, 2015) (*) Catalog #204 Catalog Value $240,000 | Price Realized $150,000.00 |
