That is probably it. It all makes sense now. They are the unique Swiss "Pumpkins". ex Caspary, ex Merrill, ex British Royal Collection. I think if I remember correctly, they were traded, I think, by William Robey for the C3a sheet back in the day. And I know for a fact that they once resided in the world class collection of the famed philatelist Philo T. Elic of Donald Duck "The Gilded Man" fame.
Well, there is a bumper crop of ugly stamps up for auction tonigh. Forgive me, but here are some "highlights." The block was just a lousy photo. There's no reason for it. The other stamps are, in my opinion, kindling. I wouldn't give them away to a child or a charity. The seller of the last stamp had the gonads to call it "xF." Yet there they are, priced right and up for auction. All of these were in the $1-2 range. There is a topic elsewhere regarding foxing and toning. If the colors of these are close to reality, I would call them foxbit.
This is indeed rare, nah, unique. The only known example of the Shermack Type LVIII - Shermangled perf. It is distinctively identified by the spurious Brinkerhoff perf at lower right, having been sent back in time, first perfed by Brinkerhoff on a failed experiment (they discovered you couldn't Autovend a stamp with only a single perforation on it), and the coil waste was purchased by Shermack in a deal arranged by the Chinese who were able to source it for 1/10th the cost of regular postage of the time. My new book has an entire section dedicated to the history and production of this issue.
Note: In the interest of full disclosure, I may have been under the influence of (multiple high percentage of C2H5OH) liquids while writing this assessment.
I know about a guy who sold his worn-out shoelaces (the blue ones) on FleaBay for $5.96. 27 bidders. Incredible! I think I'll start a FleaBay store called Bentley's Used Shoelaces. I'll be rich I tell you! RICH! Mwhahahahaha!!!!!!
In fairness at least he wasn't asking an astronomical price. I mean $9 is clearly way too much for a $0 value stamp, but I've seen far worse in the "Rare, Vintage Stamp" category where they're asking $10k, $25k, $moreK. So $9... he's not trying to fleece anyone... just get some unsuspecting fool to pay him $9 for it.
Comments
The block was just a lousy photo. There's no reason for it. The other stamps are, in my opinion, kindling. I wouldn't give them away to a child or a charity. The seller of the last stamp had the gonads to call it "xF." Yet there they are, priced right and up for auction. All of these were in the $1-2 range.
There is a topic elsewhere regarding foxing and toning. If the colors of these are close to reality, I would call them foxbit.
Bentley had one of these stuck to his nose the other day. Haven't seen it since.
My new book has an entire section dedicated to the history and production of this issue.
Note: In the interest of full disclosure, I may have been under the influence of (multiple high percentage of C2H5OH) liquids while writing this assessment.
Another reason I left after 22 years.
So $9... he's not trying to fleece anyone... just get some unsuspecting fool to pay him $9 for it.