The Drucker Collection continued...

VERY FINE AND CHOICE. ONE OF ONLY TWO RECORDED GUIDE LINE PAIRS OF THE 4-CENT 1908 IMPERFORATE. ONE OF THE MOST OUTSTANDING ITEMS OF 20TH CENTURY UNITED STATES PHILATELY.

Our census of unused Scott 314A in the Zoellner catalogue (and available at our website at: http://www.siegelauctions.com/enc/census/314a/314a.htm) records four pairs, two guide line pairs and nine singles, for a total of 21 unused stamps. Our unpublished census contains 44 used examples, including three strips of three (one on cover), three singles on separate covers, and 32 single used copies.

With the rising popularity of vending and affixing machines, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing received numerous requests from manufactures for supplies of imperforate stamps, which could then be privately perforated to conform to each firm's machine. In May 1908, a supply of 25 sheets (400 stamps per sheet) of the 4c 1902 Issue, without perforations, was delivered to the Schermack Mailing Machine Co. in Detroit. The entire supply was cut into coils with Schermack Type III perforations, designed for the firm's patented affixing machine and delivered to the Winfield Printing Co. for use on mass mailings of advertising material. Approximately 6,000 were used on a mailing for Hamilton Carhartt Manufacturer, and almost all of the 4,000 balance were used on a mailing for Burroughs Adding Machine Co.

All of the Scott 314A stamps that exist in unused condition originate from a local Detroit stamp collector, Karl Koslowski, who was the only one to purchase some of the 4c Imperforates--either from the Winfield Printing Company or from the Schermack firm. His earliest account of the event appeared two years later in the Philadelphia Stamp News, and is considered to be the most reliable of several conflicting stories told by Koslowski (and interpreted by others) at later dates. In the 1910 article, Koslowski explains that he purchased 50 stamps and expected to be able to buy more, but the supply was destroyed when he returned. We can account for 32 of the 50 stamps Koslowski claims he acquired. There are 21 unused stamps currently in our census, all of which must have come from him, and he used at least 11 stamps on mail to friends, including the strip of three on a Koslowski cover, two used strips of three off cover (the mass mailings were all singles) and two singles on separate Koslowski covers. The earliest known cover is dated at Detroit on May 27, 1908, from Koslowski to a friend in Austria, and the latest is dated April 8, 1909, which was mailed to him using a sheet-margin single from Sicklerville, New Jersey. Apart from the stamps Koslowski used, there is one recorded commercial cover (June 2, 1908) and approximately 32 used single stamps, most of which were probably removed from the mass-mailing covers.

Census No. 314A-OG-LP-07. With 1978 and 2002 P.F. certificates. (Image)

FRESH AND EXTREMELY FINE MINT NEVER-HINGED PLATE BLOCK OF THE 5-CENT 1908 IMPERFORATE.

With 1984 P.F. certificate (Image)

EXTREMELY FINE. A SUPERB PAIR OF THE RARE 5-CENT 1908 VERTICAL COIL.

Armstrong notes that as of 1980 only 79 pairs had been certified as genuine by the Philatelic Foundation.

Light pencil signature and note of Y. Souren on gum of both stamps. With 1967 and 2002 P.F. certificates. (Image)