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.

ImagesDescriptionCurrent Bid
Lot #72
1867 Z. Grill - 15c black green One of Two Known
1867 15c black, Z.Grill, geometric cancel, centered to right, completely sound, one of only two known copies, with 1962 and 2019 Philatelic Foundation Certificates, ex-Eugene Costales. A tremendous United States and World Class rarity, ex-Schilling Collection, last offered in a 1975 Siegel Rarities sale (catalogued in the grade of extremely fine at $2,000,000 and $800,000 as VG-50 in the U.S. Specialized by Grade). This stamp is definitely a key to forming a complete U.S. stamp collection, equal in rarity to the famous Z.Grill 1c (In Scott catalogue of U. S. Stamps, the 15c Z.Grill is listed as 85F: it is one of the very few issues that does not bear a unique number but must share its numeral (85) with other stamps of different denominations. This anomaly arose because Scott created its system long before the Z pattern gained general recognition as a separate variety of Grill (which did not occur until the 1910s). Accordingly, Scott assigned capital letters to the Z.Grill denominations and inserted them into the catalogue after No.85 (the 3c D.Grill). The 1c Z.Grill appeared as 85A and the 2c through 15c Z.Grills were designated 85B through 85F. This expedient enabled Scott to retain the existing numbers for all subsequent stamps, beginning with the E.Grill issues (86-91)
O
Catalog #85F
Price Realized
$1,400,000.00

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