The Maitland Collection of U.S. Stamps and Inverted Centers of the World
October 29-30, 2024
We are pleased to present two outstanding sales from the Maitland Collection - United States Stamps and Inverted Centers of the World. The focus on the United States Collection is on items typically missing from conventional collections, most notably Re-Issues, Special Printings, rare Coils, Postage Dues and of course the Inverted Jenny (which is offered in the Inverted Centers sale). Some additional highlights include a sound unused Indian Red, Grills, Bluish Papers complete, imperf. 5c in 2c block, "Fast", "Slow" and "Grounded" Jennies, and more.
The Maitland Collection of Inverted Centers of the World brings these striking errors and some of their stories to light. The United States showing is apparently complete, with 1869 Pictorials, 1901 Pan-Americans, Internal Revenues and the more modern CIA and Stock Exchange inverts. Rounding the group is the Inverted Jenny, one of the three stamps recovered from the infamous "McCoy" block. Stolen from the APS Convention in 1955, the Maitland copy is position 75, its fascinating story available at https://invertedjenny.com/position/75.
The collection continues with major rarities from Central and South America, better Canal Zone, Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Panama, Peru and Uruguay.
European Countries feature the three Inverted Parliament Building errors from Austria, Inverted Madonna from Hungary, Bulgaria 50st, Athens Academy from Greece, Italian Filiberto and Postage Dues, as well as Italian Colonies, 1956 Poland 20gr Boxer, a splendid group of Imperial Russia and Spain.
The British Commonwealth is highlighted by Canadian Revenues, St. Lawrence Seaway, multiple examples of the Truro School, plus Patricia Airways. Jamaica, Labuan, New Zealand, Cook Islands, South Australia and Tonga.
Not to be overlooked, there are inverts from Belgian Congo, French Colonies, Liberia, excellent Iran and others.
These sales will take place live via CherrystoneLIVE.
| Images | Description | Current Bid |
 | Lot #2511 The "McCoy" Inverted Jenny 1918 24c carmine rose and blue, Center Inverted, position 75, original gum, well centered, small tear at left, thin spots at top and a few blunt perfs (the latter not mentioned on the accompanying certificates), v.f. appearance, with 1982 and 2001 PFCs. This stamp is the lower left copy from the famous "McCoy Block" belonging to Ethel B. McCoy, which was stolen at the APS convention on September 23, 1955. Originally purchased by William T. Robey in 1918 (as a sheet of 100 from a Washington D.C. post office), the block was later owned by Arthur Hind, the Scott Stamp and Coin Co., Spencer Anderson and then Ethel McCoy (nee Stewart). Mrs. McCoy was reimbursed $15,000 by her insurance company and the rights of the block were sold to the American Philatelic Research Library. The block was never seen again intact, but this stamp appeared in 1958 when it was offered to the Weill brothers in New Orleans. The FBI was notified but it did not meet the minimum value for them to get involved. It then resurfaced in 1977 when it was submitted to the Philatelic Foundation for expertising. This time the FBI did get involved and after its recovery and custody battle, Mrs. McCoy donated the stamp to the American Philatelic Research Library. It was sold in 1981 on behalf of APRL at the APS Convention in Atlanta by John Kaufmann to Dr. Joseph Kurtzman, who sold it through Siegel to its current owner in 2001. A wonderful stamp with a fascinating story, * Catalog #C3a Catalog Value $450,000 | Price Realized $160,000.00 |
