EXTREMELY FINE GEM. AN EXCEPTIONALLY RARE UNUSED EXAMPLE OF THE 10-CENT ST. LOUIS "BEARS" POSTMASTER'S PROVISIONAL ON GRAY LILAC PAPER IN THE FINEST CONDITION ATTAINABLE.

A review of name-sale auctions and Power Search reveals how rare any St. Louis Bear stamp is in sound unused condition. Among all three of the papers used to print the stamp and counting all three denominations, the population we have sold in sound unused condition can be counted on less than one hand. Only one example with original gum is known to exist -- the incomparable corner sheet-margin 10c on Greenish Paper (Scott 11X2) from the Frelinghuysen collection, which realized $150,000 hammer in our Sale 1020 in 2012. Power Search located only one other unused stamp on the Gray Lilac paper, and it is faulty. The Faiman collection contained several uncancelled stamps in both 5c and 10c denominations, but only one was fault free (11X2 on Greenish, in a strip of three on cover, so not collectible as a single). Combining soundness with large even margins, this is a spectacular classic rarity.

Ex Col. Green, T. Cullen Davis ("Texas Collector") and Peyton ("Isleham"). With 2009 P.S.E. certificate (XF 90). This is the highest grade awarded to any unused St. Louis Provisional. SMQ does not price Postmasters' Provisionals, but if they did it is safe to say that an unused 10c St. Louis Bear graded XF 90 would be well in excess of Scott Retail, which is

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