Auction Detail
June 2023
"Erivan" Collection Part IX and Canal Zone Stamps and Covers
Our June sales include Part IX of the "Erivan" Collection of United and Confederate States Postal History and a catalogue of Canal Zone stamps and covers featuring the collections of James W. Crumpacker and Paul F. Ammons.
blue handstamp with matching purple Balboa Heights handstamp applied at 10 a.m., on legal-sized envelope imprinted "This envelope contained subscription to Fourth Liberty Loan, carried by first nonstop ocean to ocean aero mail service" and signed by the Director of Posts and Chairman of the Fourth Liberty Loan Committee, very fine, 919 penalty envelopes were flown
blue datestamp on 1916 2c Stamped envelope (U2) postmarked Balboa Heights October 4, 1920, six-line boxed magenta cachet reading "Aviator encountered impossible weather conditions nearing Jamaica, compelling return. Mail re-dispatched by steamer", includes original typed letter from secretary in the Executive Department who typed the official letters to postal authorities in the United States and newspaper account of the flight, very fine and scarce (AAMC 1018)
official cachet on cover addressed to Miami, Florida, 20c Red violet (C11) tied by Cristobal machine cancel, prepared by Cristobal Postmaster Gerald D. Bliss with the signatures of Charles A. Lindbergh (pilot), Basil L. Rowe (co-pilot), and Igor I. Sikorsky (aircraft designer), very fine, one of just six covers prepared by Bliss with the signatures of Lindbergh, Rowe, and Sikorsky, a remarkable piece of aviation history
airmail cover franked with 10c Orange, 20c Red violet, and 40c Yellow (C9, C11, C13) tied by October 18, 1933 Cristobal machine cancel, endorsed "Graf Zeppelin From Miami to Chicago" and postmarked Miami October 23, October 24 Chicago general delivery backstamp, very fine and scarce cover with Canal Zone stamps paying the 50c postage from Miami to Chicago via Graf Zeppelin
cover addressed to Germany franked with Canal Zone 20c Red violet (C11) and United States 15c Gray and 25c Clipper, postmarked Cristobal May 2, 1936 and New York City May 11, purple flight cachet, Frankfurt backstamp, very fine, no more than 50 letters or cards from the Canal Zone were flown on the Hindenburg's maiden flight, a wonderful rarity
black four-line handstamp on cover to New York City, official seal (OX3) on reverse, cover sustained damage in the crash but is very fine given the circumstances, very fine and scarce (AAMC 37.4)
used alongside 1925 15c Gray (90) and 1929 20c on 2c Carmine (C5) on June 10, 1931 registered airmail cover from Cristobal to Santiago, Chile, very fine and scarce (Scott $175)
left plate number 115187 block of six, overprint shifted up slightly on positions 3 and 5, very fine (Scott $115)
four preliminary stamp-sized pencil drawings of unadopted designs, 50c without vignette and three 25c designs showing the Gaillard Cut with an airplane overhead (as with the finalized design), each of four designs 25x30mm, signed "Trace D, 18 Nov. 29, Bolton", very fine, one of three reported preliminary pencil drawings of this issue
Meade Bolton, architect with the Panama Canal Company, prepared the common design for the first permanent airmail series stamps as requested in an October 7, 1929 memorandum.
51x64mm design on 62x82mm manila card, pencil "First Sketch" and "Bolton" at bottom, very fine, this is the only recorded preliminary design drawing in ink for the first permanent Canal Zone airmail series
finished design with blank value tablets, sunk on 96x79mm india paper mounted on card, design size 21.5x36mm, "70048" control number on reverse, light natural toning, very fine, the only reported master die essay for the first permanent airmail series
unmounted, 80x48mm, very fine and fresh, no more than two exist (Scott $1,600)