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Auction: 9037 - The "Pierron" Collection of British Commonwealth Missing Colours
Lot: 1293

Ireland 1976 (17 May) Bicentenary of American Revolution, 15p. lower right corner block of four showing traffic lights at right, each with silver omitted, the margin with some calculations in ink which just impinges on the base of one stamp, otherwise fine. Rare. Hamilton-Bowen Certificate (2004). Pierron IR788MCa, £8,000+; S.G. 394a, £3,000+. Photo Estimate £ 5,000-6,000 Note: The missing silver results in the loss of the inscription, country name and value. A pane of 100 stamps from a 1–1–1 plate printing which survived four security inspections – including one at the printer in Dublin, two in Dublin Castle, and one in Galway prior to distribution – was discovered in Roundstone, County Galway, completely missing silver. The error was subsequently authenticated 26 May 1976 by James Sheehy, Director of Stamping of the Office of the Revenue Commissioners. The discoverer of the pane, Dr Joaquin Kuhn, was brought to Dublin Castle for confirmation of his story and acquisition of the stamps over the days of 17 and 18 May 1976. This included explanation of the various hand written calculations in the margins of the top right corner block and the bottom right plate block; all created by the post mistress at the time on successive days as she tried to work out what to charge. After scrutiny of the stamps, Mr Sheehy accepted the error as an oversight of checking procedures and the over-the-counter purchase as legitimate. The discovery and confirmation of the error led the Irish Post Office to search for other affected panes. Eight additional panes were recovered indicating a total of three printer´s sheets (or nine panes of 100 stamps) were originally affected. Stamp dealer David Feldman took 80 of the mint stamps from the discovery pane to Interphil 76 in Philadelphia. These were numbered and initialled by Feldman on the reverse and offered for sale at Interphil 76. The numbering system starts at 1 for the stamp from the top left of the pane and ends at 100 for the stamp from the bottom right of the pane. Position 76, shown at Interphil, was subsequently placed on cover for postal registration and exists with a 14 June 1976 cancel. The finder, Dr Kuhn, kept independent records of the remaining 20 stamps from the pane – this includes four first day covers cancelled Roundstone (three addressed to Canada and one to New Jersey), 15 mint, and a further copy whose current condition is unknown given it was sold to a ten-year-old girl at the time. Be wary of examples with silver partially missing. These don´t come from the discovery pane, but one or more panes with a partial omission of silver. Two mint examples are known from split miniature sheets – these are identifiable by their margins. quantity: 95 mint, 1 used, 4 first day covers

Sold for
£4,800