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Auction: 154 - The Philatelic Collector's Series Sale
Lot: 260

#296a, 4c Pan-American, Center Inverted, a highly collectable example of this rare inverted center variety, centered to the bottom as is often the case on these, rich colors on bright paper, only slightly disturbed original gum as nearly all have and many with much worse, a number being regummed or without gum, the example offered here is fairly sound having only an unobtrusive light wrinkle at right and a couple of trivial perf. flaws, otherwise fine.

There were two sheets of 100 each of the Four Cent Pan-American with centers inverted. This was a special printing intentionally made for Post Office records. An unknown number of these were overprinted "Specimen" and still others were destroyed. The non-"Specimen" examples were mounted in a Post Office Department book resulting in the vast majority of them having disturbed gum, and a number were also thinned in an effort to remove them from mounting paper. Very few exist today with completely undisturbed original gum and/or free of faults. The example offered here lacks the serious flaws and poor appearance that many of this inverted center variety possess and certainly a very presentable addition to the most serious collection of United States stamps.

Sold for
$9,500