Rare Franklin coil pair among highlights in Hall sale

Robert A. Siegel Auction Galleries offered the Hall collection April 28-30 in New York, in a 1,000-lot sale whose catalog ran to some 370 pages.

Previewed in Linn’s of April 20 and described in detail in the June 1 issue, the sale realized a total of $5.75 million, making it one of the most successful collections on the market in recent years.

The top item was an unused vertical pair of one of the first U.S. coil stamps, the 1¢ Franklin of 1908, perforated gauge 12 horizontally (Scott 316). Certified as genuine by the Philatelic Foundation, it sold for $356,500. All Siegel results include a 15 percent buyer’s premium.

A mint example of the imperforate 4¢ Grant stamp of 1908, with privately added oblong perforations known as Schermack type 3 perfs (Scott 314A), one of just two known in never-hinged condition, sold for $230,000.

An unused block of four of the 4¢ inverted-center error from the 1901 Pan-American Exposition series (Scott 296a), one of just a few blocks surviving, brought $287,500, while a well-centered, used 30¢ invert from the 1869 pictorial issue (121b) went for $149,500.

Last but not least, an Inverted Jenny 24¢ airmail error of 1918 (Scott C3a) went for $345,000, a realization with which Siegel president Scott Trepel declared himself “very pleased.” 

One of the nicer examples extant, it is position 69 from the original sheet of 100 discovered shortly after it was issued.