51th Auction - Day 2

Argentinien - Feuerland: 1891 (Jan) Tierra de Fuego 10 centavos orange proof sheetlet of four, of th
1891 (Jan) Tierra de Fuego 10 centavos orange proof sheetlet of four, of the "POPPER" Issue, very fine unused, stamps mint never hinged with original gum. Produced by Kidd & Cº of Buenos Aires with inscription at top "PRUEBAS EN COLOR DE LAS PRIMERAS ESTAMPILLAS DE LA TIERRA DEL FUEGO".
The 1958 Kneitschel catalogue prices such proofs at 5 x the price of the normal stamp which is priced at 150 USD (Jalil 2009) = 3000 USD for the four. According to Brian Moorhouse in his study "Tierra del Fuego-The 1891 Popper issue" the proof sheetlets of four stamps were produced in six different colours: orange, brown, green and blue plus, similar to the issued colours, a dull carmine shade and a rose-red shade. These all have a printer's imprint in the top margin area which is clear of perforations. The two stamps on the left side of the sheet are slightly different unissued designs which shows shading behind the 'DIEZ', 'CENTAVOS', 'ORO' and 'LOCAL inscriptions around the edge of the stamps and inside the central 'P'. The upper stamp also has shading behind the '10' numerals in the four corners. The two stamps on the right side are exactly the same as the issued designs.

Tierra de Fuego is an archipelago that lies at the tip of the South American continent. The ownership of the area was settled by a treaty between Argentina and Chile in June 1881.News of a fabulous discovery of gold at the southern tip of Patagonia in 1885 led to a small gold rush. Julio Popper, who was born in Romania and who had studied in Paris as a mining engineer, was to establish gold mining plants in Tierra del Fuego. The output of Popper's first mining venture was around half a kilo of gold per day. He issued his own 10 centavos postage stamp used for mail carried by horseback between the gold mining camps. The stamp also covered the carriage of mail by ships to connect the local Tierra del Fuego postal system with the regular postal systems of Chile and Argentina.
VERY RARE PROOF SHEETLET OF WHICH LESS THAN 10 OF ALL COLOURS COMBINED ARE RECORDED, IN ORANGE ONLY TWO SEEM TO BE KNOWN.