Sale #44 Asia, Europe, incl. Special Auction British Africa

Vereinigte Staaten von Amerika: THE RECENTLY DISCOVERED UNIQUE COMPLETE PANE OF 100 OF THE USA $2.0
THE RECENTLY DISCOVERED
UNIQUE COMPLETE PANE OF 100
OF THE USA $2.00 COLUMBIAN ISSUE OF 1893
$2.00 Columbian Issue of 1893, Unique Complete Pane of 100, all stamps have stunning, gorgeous color and sharp proof-like printed impressions plus perfectly and beautifully preserved Mint Never Hinged gum in its pristine original state as when sold over a post office counter over 114 years ago, featuring two plate blocks at top and ten to fifteen potential Extremely Fine to Superb Gems
AN INCREDIBLE AND NEWLY DISCOVERED COMPLETE PANE OF 100 OF THE $2.00 COLUMBIAN ISSUE OF 1893. THIS IS BY FAR THE LARGEST KNOWN MULTIPLE OF THE FIRST AMERICAN COMMEMORATIVE SERIES ISSUED JANUARY 1, 1893. AN AWESOME RARITY OF THE HIGHEST ORDER THAT NO ONE KNEW EXISTED UNTIL 2016.
No one knows who originally bought this pane of Columbians in 1893 and why it was quietly stored away for the last 114 years. What is known is that the pane had been carefully stored in a bank vault, folded up in a parchment envelope. The acid-free parchment fabulously preserved the rich color and perfect gum, but the folding led to perforation separations affecting the left plate block and splitting the pane into blocks of 70 & 30.
Only two plate blocks of six and one plate block of eight survive for the $2.00 Columbian. All have bottom selvage and none possess the perfect Never Hinged gum of this pane. The now previously unique plate block of eight sold for $235,750 in April 2009. The inferior example of the two plate blocks of six sold in November 2013 for $161,000 because it has disturbed gum and a small thin spot on the bottom left stamp. The other plate block of six has a tiny sealed tear in the selvage and has not been on the market in over three decades.
Prior to the discovery of this pane, the largest known multiple of the $2.00 Columbian issue was a block of 22 with three stamps added to make a block of 25. But 23 of the stamps have the gum removed, one stamp is defective and the block is rejoined. The second known largest multiple is a block of twenty that is also in Mint Never Hinged condition, and it sold for $41,250 when it last appeared on the market in May 2001.
Last, the $2.00 Columbian issue is one of the rarest stamps to find in Extremely Fine and Never Hinged condition. For example, Mr. Zoellner, with all of his resources, failed to find a suitable Never Hinged single and thus possessed only a lightly hinged example. We could list many more famous American collectors who could not find a perfectly centered Never Hinged $2.00 Columbian stamp for their collections. As a result, demand is extremely high. The most recent well-centered Never Hinged $2.00 Columbian was sold at auction in November with a 2011 PF certificate graded 85 (Very Fine-Extremely Fine) for $7,187.50. In fact, only three examples of the $2.00 Columbian issue have achieved the grade of XF-Superb 95 and the last one sold at auction four years ago for $77,625. In our opinion, there will not be many more extremely fine $2.00 Columbian Never Hinged singles found because obtaining a certificate that reads, “It is genuine, Never Hinged” from the Philatelic Foundation and Professional Stamp Experts is extremely difficult. The stamps in this pane are unquestionably Never Hinged.
So, like every single collectible, the value is determined by supply and demand. Here is a unique complete pane with many items in very low supply and very high demand – sound and Never Hinged plate blocks, large multiples and perfectly centered singles.
Value Add Taxes (19%) will be added to the hammer price and the buyers premium.
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