United States continued...

EXTREMELY FINE. A RARE MINT NEVER-HINGED $5.00 COLUMBIAN WITH SUPERB CENTERING AND REMARKABLY FRESHNESS.

In our 2000 Rarities sale, we offered a $5.00 Columbian in Extremely Fine Mint N.H. condition, which came from the Maine Safe Deposit Box find. It realized $49,500. To prepare our description of that stamp, we surveyed dozens of auction catalogues, searching for Mint Never-Hinged examples in Extremely Fine grade. We found no more than ten stamps, some from auctions dating back 40 years, and there is no guarantee that all of the stamps previously described as Mint N.H. would pass the test today. The rarity of the $5.00 Columbian in Mint N.H. condition is easily explained. For more than a century, collectors have proudly hinged this highest value of the Columbian set in their albums, and the vast majority of stamps have not escaped the hinge. Only the break-up of blocks, which rarely contain Mint N.H. stamps, has provided the few Extremely Fine Mint N.H. $5.00 Columbian stamps extant today.

The stamp offered here does not have the margin width of the $49,500 Maine Find stamp, but it is remarkably fresh and almost perfectly centered. In our opinion, the current Scott value of $8,000 for Very Fine Mint N.H. condition does not adequately convey the market demand. We will not be surprised to see this stamp bring two or more times Scott Catalogue value.

With 1992 P.F. certificate (Image)