Sale 1279 — The Magnolia Collection: Classic Uruguay Stamps and Covers
Sale Date — Tuesday, 28 March, 2023
Category — Diligencia Tete-Beche Pairs
URUGUAY, 1858, 120c Blue, Tête-Bêche Pair (4c). Vertical pair, Transfer Types 9/16--Type 16 at bottom has the tiny break in the bottom frameline below "CE"--original gum, large margins, bright fresh color and paper, some manuscript on back from postal officials, slight crease in margin between stampsVERY FINE. THIS PAIR IS THE FINER OF THE TWO 120-CENTÉSIMOS TÊTE-BÊCHE MULTIPLES AVAILABLE TO COLLECTORS--ONE OF THE THREE KNOWN PAIRS IS IN THE BRITISH LIBRARY, AND THE OTHER IS OF LESSER QUALITY. ONE OF THE WORLD'S RAREST AND MOST FAMOUS PHILATELIC ITEMS.
The 120c tête-bêche pair--ex Hall, Pack and Lichtenstein--is an Aristocrat of Philately and was pictured in color in the 1954 Life magazine feature story on the world's rarest stamps. It is the finer of two pairs in private hands; the other is stained with manuscript ink. The third pair is in the Tapling collection at The British Library and can never be sold.
Apart from the three tête-bêche pairs, the only known multiple of the 120c is the block of six offered in this sale as lot 50. The extreme rarity of 120c multiples makes it impossible to determine the relative positions of the thirty types in the intermediate transfer block, or to even state with certainty the size of the printing stone.
One of the 120c tête-bêche pairs and a 180c tête-bêche pair were acquired by Thomas K. Tapling in the 19th century. Tapling's worldwide collection, which was eclipsed only by Ferrary's at that time, was bequeathed to The British Museum in 1891 and is now part of the Philatelic Collections of The British Library.
Ferrary owned a different 120c tête-bêche pair and the 180c tête-bêche pair offered in this sale as lot 49. Both pairs were in the Uruguay collection sold in the Ferrary sales as one lot to Theodore Champion for Alfred F. Lichtenstein, who exhibited them in the May 1940 Centenary exhibition at The Collectors Club of New York (a photo of the page in the 1940 exhibit is shown opposite). When the Charles Lathrop Pack collection was sold in 1945, Lichtenstein bought the 120c tête-bêche pair Pack had acquired from the T. W. Hall collection sometime prior to 1912. After Lichtenstein died in 1947, his daughter, Louise Boyd Dale, sold portions of the Uruguay collection to Robert Hoffmann, but she retained the superior ex-Pack 120c pair and the ex-Ferrary 180c pair. Both were sold after her death in the H.R. Harmer 1970 Dale-Lichtenstein auction and acquired by the collector known pseudonymously as Gordon N. John, who held them for nearly 50 years.
Ex Thomas William Hall, Charles Lathrop Pack (exhibited 1912 International Jubilee Exhibition, London), Alfred F. Lichtenstein and by inheritance to Louise Boyd Dale, and Gordon N. John.
Listed but unpriced in the Scott Catalogue.
URUGUAY, 1858, 180c Green, Tête-Bêche Pair (5d). Horizontal pair, Transfer Types 26-1--Type 1 at right has the distinctive broken frameline--original gum, large margins, rich color, fresh paperEXTREMELY FINE. THIS SUPERB PAIR IS THE ONLY TÊTE-BÊCHE MULTIPLE OF THE 180-CENTÉSIMOS 1858 ISSUE AVAILABLE TO COLLECTORS--THE OTHER KNOWN PAIR IS IN THE BRITISH LIBRARY. ONE OF THE WORLD'S RAREST AND MOST FAMOUS PHILATELIC ITEMS.
The 180c tête-bêche pair--ex Ferrary and Lichtenstein--is the only example of this important classic error available to collectors. It is universally recognized as an Aristocrat of Philately and was pictured in color in the 1954 Life magazine feature story on the world's rarest stamps. The other known pair is in the Tapling collection at The British Library and can never be sold.
The 180c is somewhat more available in multiples than the 120c, but again it is not possible to determine the relative positions of all thirty types in the intermediate transfer block or the size of the printing stone.
There are only two 180c tête-bêche pairs, one vertical and one horizontal. The two pairs share a common transfer type.
The vertical tête-bêche pair was acquired by Thomas K. Tapling in the 19th century. Tapling's worldwide collection, second only to Ferrary's, was bequeathed to The British Museum in 1891 and today is part of the Philatelic Collections of The British Library. Therefore, the pair in the Magnolia collection has been the only pair in private hands for more than 130 years.
Ferrary owned this 180c tête-bêche pair, which was part of the Uruguay collection sold as one lot to Theodore Champion for Alfred F. Lichtenstein. Lichtenstein exhibited the 120c pair (ex Ferrary) and this 180c pair in the May 1940 Centenary exhibition at The Collectors Club of New York. A photo of the page in the 1940 exhibit is shown at left. After Lichtenstein died in 1947, his daughter, Louise Boyd Dale, sold portions of the Uruguay collection to Robert Hoffmann, but she retained the 180c pair and the ex-Pack 120c pair offered in this sale as lot 48. After her death the Uruguay collection was sold in a 1970 H.R. Harmer sale, and both tête-bêche pairs were acquired by the collector known pseudonymously as Gordon N. John, who held them for nearly 50 years.
Ex Philipp von Ferrary (Philip Ferrari de La Renotière), Alfred F. Lichtenstein and by inheritance to Louise Boyd Dale, and Gordon N. John.
Listed but unpriced in the Scott Catalogue.