The Silver Lake Collection of Outstanding United States Stamps and Plate Blocks continued...

EXTREMELY FINE ORIGINAL-GUM EXAMPLE OF THE 2-CENT 1869 PICTORIAL RE-ISSUE.

With 1984 and 1999 P.F. certificates (Image)

EXTREMELY FINE. A VERY RARE SOUND AND BEAUTIFULLY-CENTERED ORIGINAL-GUM 3-CENT 1869 RE-ISSUE.

Original sales figures show that among the 1869 Pictorial Re-Issues, the 3c and 90c stamps accounted for the smallest number of units sold (1,406 and 1,356, respectively). Overall, the 1869's were popular with stamp collectors, far outselling the 1851-60 and 1861-66 Re-Issue sets. However, the 90c stamp's high denomination and the availability of ordinary 3c stamps limited demand. Today, both are rare, and handling over the years has not been kind to most of the surviving examples. This is a rare sound original-gum copy.

With 2000 P.F. certificate (Image)

VERY FINE AND CHOICE. A BEAUTIFUL AND EXTREMELY RARE MINT NEVER-HINGED EXAMPLE OF THE 6-CENT 1869 RE-ISSUE.

With 2000 P.F. certificate (Image)

EXTREMELY FINE GEM. A SUPERB ORIGINAL-GUM EXAMPLE OF THE 10-CENT 1869 PICTORIAL RE-ISSUE.

With 1985 P.F. certificate (Image)

EXTREMELY FINE GEM. A SUPERB 12-CENT 1869 PICTORIAL RE-ISSUE WITH ORIGINAL GUM.

With 1999 P.F. certificate (Image)

EXTREMELY FINE. A GORGEOUS ORIGINAL-GUM EXAMPLE OF THE 15-CENT 1869 PICTORIAL RE-ISSUE.

With 2000 P.F. and P.S.E. certificates (Image)

EXTREMELY FINE. AN OUTSTANDING ORIGINAL-GUM EXAMPLE OF THE 24-CENT 1869 PICTORIAL RE-ISSUE.

With 1993 P.S.E. and 2000 P.F. certificates (Image)

EXTREMELY FINE GEM. AN INCREDIBLY BRIGHT AND FRESH ORIGINAL-GUM COPY OF THE 30-CENT 1869 PICTORIAL RE-ISSUE. A SUPERB STAMP IN EVERY RESPECT.

With 1985 P.F. certificate (Image)

EXTREMELY FINE. A STUNNING MINT NEVER-HINGED EXAMPLE OF THE 90-CENT 1869 PICTORIAL RE-ISSUE IN POST-OFFICE FRESH CONDITION. PROBABLY ONLY TWO OR THREE MINT NEVER-HINGED EXAMPLES OF THIS RE-ISSUE EXIST.

As beautiful as this 90c 1869 Re-issue is on the face, it is the back that is most remarkable. The gum is pristine, with a totally undisturbed pattern of crackles, which are characteristic of 1869 Re-issue original gum. Gum on high-value Re-issues is almost always hinged, for the simple reason that the stamps were sold by the Post Office Department to philatelists, who usually hinged them in 19th Century stamp albums, long before anyone imagined that the gum would one day be a significant aspect of condition. Very few blocks of the high-denomination Re-issues have ever been available, which limits the supply of Mint N.H. stamps out of broken blocks. In the case of the 90c 1869 Re-issue, the famous plate block is the only recorded block, and its existence suggests that other stamps may have been attached at one time and removed. Therefore, this stamp and the plate block may have the same provenance.

With 1991 P.F. certificate (Image)