Romanian airmail rarity in Aug. 23-24 Regency-Superior auction

Collectors will find two intriguing lots sharing an aviation theme among the many philatelic offerings in the upcoming American Philatelic Society Stampshow auction by Regency-Superior.

The firm will conduct its auction in two sessions, Aug. 23-24, at the Connecticut Convention Center in Hartford.

The auction encompasses United States and worldwide stamps, covers and collections, including the balance of the Bob Weisz stock, the Leo Groen­weghe worldwide stamp collection, and the David Straight collection featuring pneumatic post covers and scarce Mongolian postal history.

The two lots with the aviation components have some additional common characteristics: a biplane in the central design, and an inverted element.

A patched-together pane of 50 Romanian airmail stamps was overprinted in 1930 to commemorate the coronation of King Carol II, who was himself a prominent stamp collector.

Prior to the overprinting, two of the 2-leu airmail stamps with the horizontal watermark had separated from the pane and were reattached with bits of gummed paper, but positioned upside down in relation to the rest of the stamps on the pane.

When the overprint was applied to this pane, it was therefore inverted on the two reattached stamps, making them the only two stamps of this issue known with the overprint inverted.

The original unused pane of 50, including the two overprint inverts, is offered in this Regency-Superior auction, accompanied by a Friedl Expert Committee certificate from 1981.

The pane was purchased from Sotheby’s by Herbert Klein in 1980, and was last sold by Christie’s in 1996.

The pane is listed by Regency-Superior with an opening bid of $50,000, but carries an estimate of $750,000 to $1 million.

The Regency-Superior auction highlights extend from classic issues to the United States in the 21st century, with the offering of a variety of the 2013 $2 Jenny Invert self-adhesive stamp.

The stamp on offer is the lower-left single with attached margin paper from one of the 18 panes of six of the upright Jenny Invert variety discovered so far.

The pane that the stamp came from is one of just 100 intentionally created by the U.S. Postal Service with the plane flying right side up, and then randomly distributed in blind packaging among the normal stamps marked for retail distribution at post offices.

The normal issue (Scott 4806) shows the plane flying upside down in tribute to the 1918 24¢ airmail error it resembles.

The pane from which this stamp originated was broken up into four singles and one pair.

The stamp is accompanied by images of the full pane and how it was broken up, according to the auction description, as well as a copy of the Philatelic Foundation certificate for the full pane and a PSE graded certificate.

With an opening bid of $2,200, the stamp is listed with an estimate of $10,000 to $20,000.

The auction includes 3,283 lots with diverse material that includes Indian Reservation Conservation stamps, classic United States, British singles and sets, and much more.

Individual auction lots with color images can be viewed online at www.regencystamps.com.

Information is available by e-mail from info@RegencySuperior.com; or write to Regency-Superior Auctions, 229 N. Euclid Ave., St. Louis, MO 63108.