Monday Morning Brief | Position 76 Jenny Invert stamp

Watch as Linn’s Stamp News managing editor Chad Snee reports that Robert A. Siegel Auction Galleries has been selected to sell the Position 76 1918 Jenny Invert stamp that was part of the McCoy block of four stolen in 1955.

Full Video Transcript:

Greetings fellow stamp enthusiasts! Welcome to the Monday Morning Brief for March 27.

Among the more electrifying headlines to come out of our coverage of World Stamp Show-New York 2016 last spring was the announcement of the return of the Position 76 1918 Jenny Invert airmail error stamp to its owner, the American Philatelic Research Library.

That stamp, as it turned out, was once part of the famous McCoy block of four Jenny Inverts that was stolen right out of an exhibit frame at the American Philatelic Society’s annual convention in Norfolk, Virginia, in 1955.

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Ethel McCoy, who owned the block at the time of theft, eventually donated her ownership rights to block to the APRL before any of the stamps were recovered.

To add even more intrigue to the story, the Position 76 Jenny Invert surfaced in a rather unlikely location: Northern Ireland.

As Linn’s associate editor Mike Baadke reported March 21 on Linns.com, the long-missing stamp “was found by a noncollector named Keelin O’Neill among items left to him by his late grandfather, in a box that included old records and an antique clock.”

When O’Neill learned that the stamp had been stolen and was the rightful property of the American Philatelic Research Library, he decided to return it.

The dramatic handover of the stamp took place June 2, 2016, in front of reporters and TV camera crews gathered at the Javits Center in New York City, which hosted the big international stamp show.

Now, some nine months later, the stamp is headed for the auction block at Robert A. Siegel Auction Galleries in New York. The APRL made the decision to go with the Siegel firm to sell one of its two Jenny Invert stamps, both of which were once part of the McCoy block.

The library’s other Jenny Invert, the Position 65 stamp recovered in 1982, has made numerous appearances at American Philatelic Society shows over the years. In 1981, the APRL sold the Position 75 Jenny Invert from the McCoy block.

And what about the Position 66 Jenny Invert? Shown in black and white at top right in this recreation of the McCoy block, its whereabouts, for now, remain unknown.

For Linn’s Stamp News and the Scott catalogs, I’m Chad Snee. Have a great week enjoying our wonderful hobby. Cheers!