Rare Stamps & Postal History of the World
May 9-10, 2023
Welcome to our May 9-10, 2023 Sale of Rare Stamps and Postal History of the World, which will take place at our Teaneck, N.J. Galleries and over the internet via CherrystoneLIVE. There are 1,487 lots in the sale, which begins with United States and U.S. Possessions, including graded items, Plate Blocks, and modern errors. In the Worldwide section we are pleased to offer Great Britain and British Commonwealth, European Countries, Asia and the rest of the world. There is a splendid collection of Egypt and Orient Zeppelin flights, featuring three of the four known Suez dispatches, plus other rarities. There are further selections from the estate of Dr.Martin Stempien, a respected postal historian and Secretary to the Chairman of the Expert Committee at the New York Philatelic Foundation from 1988-2018. The auction concludes with over two hundred Large Lots and Collections, ranging from single country albums, specialized collections, multi-carton worldwide groups and large cover lots offered intact.
| Images | Description | Current Bid |
 | Lot #107 United States 1930-79 Issues 1979 $1.00 Rush Lamp & Candle Holder, intaglio brown color inverted, n.h., v.f. The so-called CIA invert is one of the best known inverted color errors in United States philately. These stamps were discovered by an on-duty CIA employee who teamed up with some colleagues to purchase the pane from a post office. Saving a copy each, the group later sold the bulk of the sheet to a prominent stamp dealer. News of the error reached CIA officials who sought to claim ownership and US Postal authorities who tried to recover the stamps. Official queries, threats, and even job losses followed the group until the sale of the pane was ruled legal. Because the number of existing CIA inverts approximately equals the number of existing Inverted Jennies (examples of C3a regularly bring six-figure sums at auction), it may be said that current values for 1610c are far too low. This exceptional copy is accompanied by a 2014 PFC graded "XF 90", ** Catalog #1610c Catalog Value $17,000 | Price Realized $14,000.00 |
