Lot number 745
(Public auction of April 17th/18th, 2010 - Cat. 15 (currency EURO))
Index > overseas > venezuela > classic period: Lot 745
| Date of lot | |
|---|---|
| Lot number | 745 |
| Description |
1859 fine impression 1/2r red error of colour (the normal 1/2r stamps were printed in yellow or orange shades, but the 2r value was printed in red) possessing excellent margins all around and clearly showing the frame lines, coming from Position 37 on the sheet, very fine used by a clean strike of “Correos/Dic 9/La Guaira” double circle cancel in blue.
This is believed to be the first time that this stamp has been offered singly on the open market. It was the most significant item in the famous collection of Venezuela formed by H.R. Harmer mainly in the pre-WWII period and it was exhibited by him, attracting the attention of the philatelic world, at the 1950 London International Stamp Exhibition. The stamp is noted to have been in the Ferrary collection but it is not specifically mentioned in the Ferrary sale catalogues but was quite possibly in the small but important group of Venezuela 1859-62 period which was offered as part of Lot 658 in Sale No. 9 (11 April 1924). The Harmer collection was bought intact by Boylan in Venezuela and from there it made its way to its present owner.
It should also be mentioned that a similar single solitary colour error of the 1/2r from the later coarse impression issue is also known. This stamp is ex Ferrary, ex Foster and ex Hubbard and was recently illustrated in “Edition d’Or – XVI” which features the Dr. Knut Heister collection of Venezuela.
The advanced collector Lt. Gen. C.W. Wickersham, in his 1949 handbook on the early stamps of Venezuela, classified the 1859 fine impression and the 1859-60 coarse impression as different issues, and thus are listed in general catalogues of reference such as Scott and Stanley Gibbons. Both issues were produced in different places including United States for the earlier and Caracas for the later.
This extraordinary unique first issue fine impression rarity must surely be considered as the most important item of Venezuelan philately, with its rarity being comparable to the famous Uruguay 1858 180c error of colour (which graced, among others, the Ferrari, Dale-Lichtenstein and Boker collections). One of the ten most significant rarities of South American philately. Cert. Moorhouse. Ex Ferrary, H.R. Harmer and Boylan.
|
| Starting price | EUR 150'000.00 |
| Price realised (incl. com.) | EUR 288'000.00 |
