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 #164 United States 1901 Pan-American Exposition 1901 4c deep red brown and black, Center Inverted, unused (regummed), h.r., nice color, repairs (including a sealed tear), fine appearance, with 2019 PFC (it has been reported that a total of 203 4c Inverts were released, both with and without the small "Specimen" overprint (it is not known how many were overprinted). Some examples, both with and without the overprint, were given away by Third Asst. Postmaster General Edwin C. Madden. When postal authorities learned of the practice, they destroyed 194 copies and put one pane of 100 into the official archives. At a later date, 97 of these were traded for rarities missing from the archives. Scott notes that "Almost all unused examples of No. 296a have partial or disturbed gum. Values are for examples with full original gum that is slightly disturbed") (*) Catalog #296a Catalog Value $85,000 | Price Realized $7,500.00 |
