Next week, Robert A. Siegel Auction Galleries will host a highly anticipated sale at its New York headquarters.
The 64-lot Sale No. 1147, The Don David Price Collection of the 1918 24-cent Jenny Air Post Issue, will begin Feb. 28 at 10:30 a.m. Among the highlights of this specialized collection is Lot 9, a unique example of one of the most iconic stamp errors in the world, an Inverted Jenny (Scott #C3a).
According to auctioneers, the stamp—position 28 of the discovery pane of 100 stamps—was first offered in auction at the June 1940 Harmer, Rooke sale of the George R. M. Ewing Collection. It next appeared at auction in a February 1947 F. W. Kessler sale, consigned by Cuban dealer Alberto Perez. It then appeared in another Harmer, Rooke sale in 1949.
THE PRICE PURCHASE
On Nov. 29, 1950, the Price family acquired position 28 when Milton Price purchased the stamp at another Harmer, Rooke sale, consigned by E. E. Kistner.
Price was an avid collector of U.S. stamps from the 1930s through the ’50s until he unexpectedly died in 1961. His collection of 19 Elbe albums was put into a vault until 1992, when it was dispersed and sold. Don David Price—Milton’s son—retained five of the stamps, including position 28.
The lot is accompanied by a photocopy of a 1951 Philatelic Foundation certificate issued to Price as well as a 2016 Philatelic Foundation certificate, which states “Genuine, Previously Hinged.”
There is a pre-sale estimate of $450,000 USD (about $588,220 Cdn.) as outlined in the 2017 Scott Specialized Catalogue of United States Stamps and Covers.