ID: 31568590
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MAJOR ERROR: Dramatic Blue Ink Printing Flaw on 1982 "LOVE" Sheet.
$35,000.00
Seller:
abctoo (12)
Major Error: 1982 “LOVE” sheet printed with dramatic blue inking error. The only existing 1982 “LOVE” stamps with this major error. It was originally purchased in 1982 from the Berkeley, California post office. The purchaser was well known to the clerk of ... Read More
Item Specifics
- Catalog Number
- 1951 variety
- Condition
- Unused
- Stamp Format
- Error
- Year of Issue
- 1982
Item Description
Major Error: 1982 “LOVE” sheet printed with dramatic blue inking error. The only existing 1982 “LOVE” stamps with this major error. It was originally purchased in 1982 from the Berkeley, California post office. The purchaser was well known to the clerk of its philatelic section as an avid stamp collector. At the time, the philatelic section was in a separate room away from the regular window section. For years, he had been going in almost every week to talk to “the nice lady” who was the philatelic clerk and to buy sheets of anything new he hadn't already bought from her. When the “LOVE” stamp came in, she showed him the error sheet. He ask how many she had and she said that was the only one they received. We purchased it from him later that same year (1982).Dramatic printing errors like this one have been found on only a few other stamps of the era. For example, the 1986 “Navajo Art”stamps exist with similar errors, but the ink that ran is black and not blue as with this “LOVE” sheet. Today, “Navajo Art” error sheets sell for $400.00 to $900.00 each. The difference in price between the “Navajo Art” error sheets and the LOVE stamp error sheets is that a quantity of “Navajo Art” error sheets were found shortly after the stamp was issued, while this “LOVE” stamp error sheet was the only one found at the time and no other have turned up in almost 30 years, i.e., it's the only one known.
The blue printing error on this 1982 “LOVE” stamp sheet covers its complete left margin and the entire first column of 10 stamps, then partially covers the left side of all 10 stamps in the second column, with the remaining columns of stamps appearing as normal. Thus the sheet has ten horizontal strips of three adjoining stamps, with each triptych containing all three of these different variations of the “LOVE “ stamp. Those ten strips are the only known 1982 “LOVE” stamps with this error combination.
When this sheet (pane) initially printed in a full uncut sheet of 4 panes of 50 stamps each, only the upper left and lower left panes had the possibility of having such an error as the two right panes of 50 start in the middle of the uncut sheet and end on the opposite edge of the paper from where the inking flaw occurred. This major printing error may have been the cause of the missing color varieties known of these “LOVE” stamps. It is not unreasonable to assume that when the spreading inking problem was discovered by the printers, they shut down the printing presses to fix the cause of the blue ink run. Then when they restarted printing, not all of the colors in the press units had been fully adjusted or turned back on.
We are providing scans taken under short-wave length ultraviolet (UV) light. These show the "tagging" on this sheet was applied on top of (i.e., after) the blue error was printed. The scans conclusively establish that the blue ink error occurred before the stamps were tagged.
We note that most of the lower left portion of the sheet is stuck to a glassine sheet protector, while a little of the upper left portion of the sheet is not stuck (at least two complete strips of 3 seem free). That was the condition we acquired it in 1982. We chose not to separate the gummed strips from those stuck to keep the sheet intact. We also chose not to soak the stamps off the glassine page to make mint no gum error strips. Back then, we decided to let the next owner of the sheet make those decisions. If sold separately, the 10 individual strips of errors should sell for more than our starting bid price. The entire sheet may not be never hinged, but it is unique.
Copyright 2020 by Michael Fried, P.O. Box 27521, Oakland, California 94602-0521
Seller Information
- Seller
- abctoo (12)
- Registered Since
- 02/25/2020
- Feedback
- 100%
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Sales History
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- Item Location
- California, United States
- Ships To
- Worldwide
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- Item Weight
- 0 Lbs 13 oz
- Shipping Instructions
- We ship by U.S. Postal Service with USPS Tracking and can combine multiple items purchased the same day into the same package to save on shipping. NOTICE: Since insurance covers only the goods but not the costs of shipping them, the buyer agrees that once we have proof of delivery of the package to the post office, that if it is lost in the mails and not delivered or is damaged in shipping that the refund is limited to only the purchase price and any sales tax (if applicable) and does not include a refund of the shipping. For international buyers, we label our customs tags as "merchandise" and you are responsible for all customs, duties or other import fees into your country.
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