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1851, 2c Blue (1). Type I, a completely sound copy with bright fresh color, mounted on card for protection, clear to ample margins with framelines complete except at upper left where margin is slightly irregular, vivid red "Honolulu*U.S. Postage Paid*" circular datestamp indicating that this stamp was used on a fully prepaid letter to the United StatesTHE FINEST USED EXAMPLE OF THE HAWAIIAN 2-CENT MISSIONARY
Our census of 2c Missionaries (Appendix I) shows that, of the fifteen recorded examples (four of which are in museums), only two sound stamps exist off cover - the unique unused copy (previous lot) and the beautifully cancelled stamp offered here. All of the other twelve off-cover used 2c Missionaries are defective or repaired. Only one other bears this Honolulu cancel (Census No. 1-I-CAN-3, Appendix I), but on that repaired example the marking is struck so faintly, it is indiscernible.
This stamp first appeared at public auction in the second sale of the Count Philippe de la Renotiere von Ferrary collection, held at the Hotel Drouot in Paris on October 13-15, 1921, under the supervision of M. G. Gilbert. In Stamps of Fame (p. 99 and 105) the Williams brothers cite a reference to a complete set of Hawaiian Missionaries in the Judge Frederick A. Philbrick collection, which they identify as Ferrary's probable source of this 2c Missionary. The Philbrick collection, which Ferrary acquired in 1882, was reputed to be the finest in England at that time and formed an important foundation for Ferrary's collecting efforts (Bierman, World's Greatest Stamp Collectors).
At the Ferrary sale, this stamp realized the equivalent of $7,710, a price comparable to the $8,394 paid for the ex-Philbrick Mauritius 1p and 2p "Post Office" piece in the same sale. The buyer was Theodore Champion, who acquired the 2c Missionary for his own collection. There is no further record of the stamp until the November 16, 1966, sale of Hawaii held by H. R. Harmer of New York, on behalf of Louise Boyd Dale, daughter of Alfred F. Lichtenstein. The offering is described as "Including the original collection formed by the late Alfred F. Lichtenstein, Offered without reserve by order of his daughter." In this auction the 2c Missionary - Lichtenstein's only example - realized $30,000, selling to Raymond H. Weill Co. of New Orleans. The stamp was placed in the collection of Mr. P., alongside the unused 2c Missionary and the cover. After the Weills acquired the P. collection in 1969 for $4.07 million, the stamp was held in stock until 1970 when it was sold to Thurston Twigg-Smith.
Illustrated in Smithsonian magazine and Rare Stamps, L. N. and M. Williams (p. 25).
Ex Ferrary (probably from Philbrick collection), Champion, Lichtenstein, Mr. P. Collection, Twigg-Smith. Census No. 1-I-CAN-4. Other census references: Meyer-Harris 7, Brewster 1-I-Used-1. With 1995 P.F. certificate. Scott value for a repaired example with the usual black cancel is $175,000.00
