A 1c green stamp from the 1923 rotary waste issue scored the highest price in a US auction that included four important collections, which was held on February 23-24 in New York.
 A stamp that was once considered waste is now worth $73,750 |
The stamp, one of only 13 of its type known to exist, sold for $73,750, making a 84.3% increase on its $40,000 estimate. It was consigned from the Weston Collection of US Stamps, which was joined by the Gold Rush Collection of the US 1847 Issue, the Towson Collection of Worldwide Stamps and the Robert R Johnson Stock.
The 1c green originates from the rotary waste issue, produced in 1923 following the decision to use stamps salvaged from the discontinued high-capacity rotary presses. These stamps were well printed, but were not issued at first due to their irregular size compared with flat-plate stamps.
Of the 13 known examples, just five of these exist without a pre-cancel, including the one at auction. It sports a neat black machine cancel, with just poor centring, small creases and pulled perforations at the upper-right marring its otherwise fine condition.
Another example of the five, perhaps the finest known, sold from the illustrious Natalee Grace Collection for $90,000 in September 2012.
 The 1851 1c stamp has hundreds of types and varieties and provides a seperate area of collecting entirely for some philatelists |
Leading from the Robert R Johnson stock was an 1851 cover bearing three examples of the US 1c blue types I and Ib. The three stamps originate from positions 7-9R1E of plate one early, with the cover one of only six recorded to feature position 7R1E, which is the only true type I stamp among the 1,000 on the five plates utilised for the production of the 1c imperforate.
With all three stamps tied by neat manuscript X cancellations, the cover sold for $40,000, accompanied by a 2006 PF certificate signed Ashbrook, with his notes on the reverse.
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