LOT Old Heritage Auctions  /  2007 Sept Long Beach, CA Sig Currency #448  / 

12762

HB-89 EP-11 Scott-59 Reed-CL01 1¢ Arthur M.

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money Start Price:8,750.00 USD Estimated At:17,500.00 - 30,450.00 USD
HB-89 EP-11 Scott-59 Reed-CL01 1¢ Arthur M.
<B>HB-89a EP-11 Scott-59 Reed-CL01 1¢ Arthur M. Claflin About New.<BR>Numerical grade: 80case.70stamp.70mica. = 220</B></I> Because somedays you're the windshield, and some days you're the bug, the Hodder-Bowers Book has numbered the 90¢ Burnett's and the1¢ Claflin both HB-89, so we'll call this first Claflin HB-89a. This cataloger has always considered and continues to consider Claflin to be the rarest of the 34 Encased Postage merchants. This piece is the Jim Ruddy example, which this cataloger sold to him in 1980. It sold three additional times in the ensuing 20 years, and it wound up in the Frederick Mayer Collection. This piece is very comparable to the One Cent example in the Western Collection, and interestingly, it has a wrinkle across the stamp on exactly the same angle as the Western Collection example. The case is a beautiful AU with a fair amount of silver behind the letters. The stamp is very nearly fully fresh, and it is problem free save for the wrinkle. The mica has a crack at the lower right, but it is clean and unobtrusive. When we handled this piece in 1980, it sold for $10,000. Reed reports 22 auction appearances for One Cent Claflins, and all the references and experts agree that it is the only collectable denomination. Reed considers it an R-8 (five to ten known.) We feel five is about right. The Hodder-Bowers reference says "Fewer than five 1¢ pieces are known." And the Stack's catalog estimates five to ten with the caveat, "The exact number known is uncertain." Whether the true count is four or seven, this is still the most "common" of the Claflins. The Hodder-Bowers reference estimates fifteen known examples of this merchant for all denominations combined.<BR><I>From The Frederick Mayer Collection</B></I><BR><BR><b>Shipping:</b> Coins & Currency (<a target="_blank" href="http://www.heritageauctions.com/common/shipping.php">view shipping information</a>)
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