Price of US Stamp Scott 218: 1883 90c Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry American Bank Note. Page 2

U.S.; General Issues, 1888, 90¢ purple, #218. O.g., Very Good to Fine. Scott $900. Estimate value $150.

Harmer-Schau Auction Galleries, May 2015, Sale 105, Lot 128

1888, 90¢ purple (Scott 218), o.g., lightly hinged, absolutely gorgeous 90 cent Perry with attractive well balanced margins and impressive rich color, scarce like this, Very Fine to Extremely Fine, 1972 P.F. and 2015 P.S.E. certificate. Scott $900. Estimate value $1,000 – 1,500.

Daniel Kelleher Auctions, May 2015, Sale 669, Lot 2697

1888, 90¢ purple (Scott 218), o.g., lightly hinged, nice tall margined example with bold prooflike color printed on clean white paper, simply extraordinary, Very Fine, 2001 P.F. certificate. Scott $900. Estimate value $750 – 1,000.

Daniel Kelleher Auctions, May 2015, Sale 669, Lot 2698

1888, 90¢ purple (Scott 218), left margin block of 4, o.g., top pair lightly hinged, bottom pair never hinged, rich color and extremely desirable, Fine to Very Fine. Scott $4,750. Estimate $2,000 – 3,000.

Daniel Kelleher Auctions, May 2015, Sale 669, Lot 2699

90c Purple (Scott 218). Original gum, lightly hinged, rich color on bright paper, wide and balanced margins, thin speck, reperfed at top, neither noted on accompanying certificate, looks Extremely Fine, with 1996 P.F. certificate

Robert Siegel Auction Galleries, Apr 2015, Sale 1096, Lot 377

90c Purple (Scott 218). Bottom imprint and plate no. 23 block of ten, original gum, lightly hinged, bright shade, few double perforations at bottom, few perf separations sensibly reinforced, light creasing in selvage only FINE APPEARANCE. A RARE ORIGINAL-GUM PLATE BLOCK OF THE 1888 90-CENT PURPLE AMERICAN BANK NOTE COMPANY ISSUE. This plate block appears to be the fifth on record.

Robert Siegel Auction Galleries, Apr 2015, Sale 1096, Lot 379

90c Purple (Scott 218). Block of four, original gum, lightly hinged, bright shade, nicely centered VERY FINE-EXTREMELY FINE BLOCK OF FOUR OF THE 1888 90-CENT AMERICAN BANK NOTE COMPANY ISSUE. THE TOP RIGHT STAMP IS A SUPERB GEM. We are surprised this block is still intact.

Robert Siegel Auction Galleries, Apr 2015, Sale 1096, Lot 378

90c Purple (Scott 218). Jumbo margins, brilliant color, unobtrusive duplex cancel, fresh and Extremely Fine, scarce with such enormous margins, with 1983 and 1989 P.F. certificates

Robert Siegel Auction Galleries, Apr 2015, Sale 1096, Lot 380

90c Purple, Imperforate (218a). Part original gum, large margins to full, tiny thin spot at top right not mentioned on accompanying certificate, Very Fine appearance, an extremely rare imperforate issue, only one vertical pair is contained in Power Search (from our 1978 Rarities sale), with 1971 P.F. certificate, unpriced in Scott as a pair or single (the more common 30c catalogues $1,750.00 as a pair)

Robert Siegel Auction Galleries, Apr 2015, Sale 1096, Lot 381

1888, 90¢ purple, plate proof on India. Mounted on card, bottom margin block of 4, large balanced margins, fresh and Extremely Fine. Scott No. 218P3; $400.

Schuyler J. Rumsey Philatelic Auctions, Apr 2015, Sale 60, Lot 2197

o 1888, 90¢ purple (218), excellent centering within large margins, brilliant color. Face-free registry cancel. An Extremely Fine gem. Scott value $250 Expertization: 2002 P.F. Certificate.

Matthew Bennett International, Feb 2015, Sale 351, Lot 138

90c Purple (218). Top imprint and plate no. 23 block of 20 — the complete top two rows of the pane with full sheet selvage and left guide arrow — very lightly hinged (four stamps in the multiple are Mint N.H.), brilliant color and fresh paper, remarkably well-centered, one stamp (Position 6) has small insignificant thin spot VERY FINE. A SPECTACULAR IMPRINT AND PLATE NUMBER MULTIPLE OF THE 90-CENT 1888 PURPLE AMERICAN BANK NOTE COMPANY ISSUE. THIS IS NOT ONLY THE LARGEST RECORDED MULTIPLE OF THIS ISSUE, IT IS THE LARGEST KNOWN UNUSED MULTIPLE OF ANY 90-CENT VALUE IN THE 1857 TO 1888 CLASSIC PERIOD. TRULY ONE OF THE GREATEST CLASSIC UNITED STATES PLATE BLOCKS EXTANT. The 1888 American Bank Note Company Issue in new colors (Scott 215-218) was the last of the Large Bank Note series that spanned two decades from 1870 until 1890, when the Small Bank Note Issue was released. The series of sales of the Colonel Edward H. R. Green collection included two lots described as complete panes of the 90c 1888. The first was offered as lot 58 in Part 17 (Harmer Rooke sale, Nov. 13-18, 1944), described as “sheet of 100 (right pane)… imprint #23. Centering fair to very fine, full gum. A beautiful sheet of the greatest rarity. It is remarkable to find that such a sheet is still in existence.” The sheet was not photographed in the catalogue. In Part 25 of the Green sales, held by Eugene Costales (February 18-21, 1946), lot 511 was described as a 90c 1888 sheet of 100 with “Imprint and Pl. #23.” Costales, one of the premier philatelic authorities of the period and editor of the Scott U.S. Specialized Catalogue for many years, commented, “We know of only one other sheet of this stamp which does not compare with the brilliance and exceptional condition of this one.” Fortunately, this sheet (lot 511) was photographed, which confirms without doubt that it was the source of the top-margin plate block of 20 offered here. From the bottom of the same Green sheet, an imprint and plate number block of 12 was broken out (ex Eno and Wampler, offered in Siegel Sale 829, lot 480). The “other” sheet referred to by Costales is probably the one offered in the earlier Green sale (Part 17, lot 58). There are two other recorded plate blocks of Scott 218 that probably come from the lot 58 sheet: a top plate number 23 block of 12 with Fine centering (Kelleher sale, May 2, 1995, lot 729A) and a bottom plate number 23 block of 10 with Fine-Very Fine centering (Siegel Sale 869, lot 3162). Therefore, the four recorded plate blocks comprise matching top and bottom positions from the two right panes offered in the Green sales. We know with certainty that the top plate block of 20 and bottom plate block of 12 come from the photographed Green sheet (Part 25, lot 511), and we are practically certain the other top and bottom plate blocks (of 12 and 10, respectively) come from the sheet offered in the earlier Green sale. We can also rely on Costales as an authoritative source that only two sheets of 100 were known in 1946. Based on this information and our own experience, we are confident that no sheet of Scott 218 has survived. We also feel confident in describing this block as the largest recorded unused multiple of any 90c value issued from 1857 through 1888. The 90c stamps in this time period are Scott 39, 47, 62, 72, 101, 111, 122, 132, 144, 144A, 155, 166, 177, 191, 202 and 218. Since the Scott 39 block of 21 was divided to yield two blocks of nine, and we are unaware of any unused block of 20 or larger among the other issues, the block of 20 offered here is not only an important plate number multiple, it is the largest of all surviving unused multiples of 90c stamps issued prior to 1890. Ex Colonel Edward H. R. Green (as part of a sheet), B. D. Phillips and from our 1981 Rarities of the World sale, where it realized $40,000 hammer.

Robert Siegel Auction Galleries, Feb 2015, Sale 1092, Lot 1157

90c Purple (Scott 218). Original gum, lightly hinged, extra wide margins and well-centered, Very Fine and choice, with 2009 P.S.E. certificate (OGph, VF 80 Jumbo; SMQ $900.00 as 80, $1,250.00 as 85)

Robert Siegel Auction Galleries, Feb 2015, Sale 1092, Lot 1156

1888, 90¢ purple (Scott 218), o.g., hinge remnant, sharp impression with bright color; faint gum soaks in perforations at top, otherwise Very Fine, 2011 P.F. certificate. Scott $900. Estimate value $300 – 400.

Daniel Kelleher Auctions, Jan 2015, Sale 663, Lot 1435

1888, 90¢ purple (Scott 218), o.g., previously hinged (natural gum crease bottom right corner), rich saturated color printed on bleach white paper, very attractive, Fine. Scott $900. Estimate $300 – 400.

Daniel Kelleher Auctions, Jan 2015, Sale 663, Lot 1436