The highly anticipated sale of the Keith J Starmer collection of Hawaiian Numeral Issues will take place at stamp auctioneer Robert A Siegel on June 28.
Among the star lots is an 1859 1c light blue “1 Ce” omitted.
The Hawaiian numeral issue was released in 1859
The lot is one of only two examples of the stamp displaying this error in existence, leading Siegel to describe it as “one of the greatest Hawaiian numeral varieties”.
These lower denomination stamps (the 1c and 2c) were issued in large numbers due to increased demand for stamps in Hawaii.
This followed the introduction of island postage rates (prior to 1859, communication across Hawaii had been carried free of charge).
A 5c denomination was produced for international mail.
An 1859 2c cover displaying a unique strike of the Lahaina Customs House Seal carries an estimate of $10,000-15,000.
The lot is one of around 10-25 1859 2c covers known and the only one to feature this cancellation.
The numerals were the second stamps issued in Hawaii, after the famous (and very rare) missionary issue – so-named as they were mainly used by the Christian missions set up on the islands in the 19th century.
The legendary Dawson cover, which features a 2c and 5c missionary, realised $2.2m in an auction in 2013.
We have an extraordinary collection of postage stamps for sale, click here to take a look.
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