3c Scarlet (74). Four neat
pen strokes, vibrant color, bright and fresh, partly nibbed perf at
rightVERY FINE. AN UNUSUALLY FRESH AND ATTRACTIVE EXAMPLE OF THE 3-CENT SCARLET TRIAL PRINTING. FROM THE ROTHFUCHS GROUP.
As has been documented by Jerome S. Wagshal in a series of Chronicle articles (Nos. 56, 60, 61 and 62), a Washington D.C. stamp dealer, Carl F. Rothfuchs, obtained a supply of the 3c Scarlet in 1893 -- probably from the Post Office Department in exchange for his assistance with the Columbian Exposition -- and sold them with pen marks and original gum. The Rothfuchs lot is not from the same supply acquired by John W. Scott in the late 1870's, from which stamps exist uncancelled and cancelled with a New York City Station D oval. (Image)