In its Oct. 10-12 Flagship sale in Danbury, Daniel F. Kelleher Auctions is offering a used example of the elusive 1851 1¢ type I Benjamin Franklin stamp that is one of the more challenging stamps to obtain when building a collection of United States classics. The Kelleher Flagship sale will offer its visitors a diverse selection of material from various collections of such countries as the USA, Great Britain, Germany, Italy and others. The stamp is estimated at $40,000 to $60,000, with an opening bid of $20,000.
During the production of 1851 1¢ type I Benjamin Franklin stamp an entire pane of the full design didn`t fit on the plate, so the existing transfers were erased, the plate was turned upside down and the sheet was restarted. During the second attempt the full design didn`t fit on the sheet, so the design was reduced and the remaining stamps were transferred with reduced design. This is the only stamp of this issue from position 7 on the right side of the early state of plate 1 to retain the full type characteristics and also have the double impression of the first erased image.
1851, 1¢ dark blue, type I featuring four clear gigantic margins all around, in the rare dark blue shade which Ashbrook noted in his book is "…so rare it is not priced at all in the catalogue. This stamp in the dark blue color is indeed a very rare stamp. I recall seeing but one." Less 100 examples of this bright item exist today making it one of the rarest of the US stamps. 1851 1¢ type I Benjamin Franklin featuring very fine centering is widely considered as a significant rarity which would grace the pages of the finest of collections. The stamp’s provenance includes prominent researcher Stanley B. Ashbrook, and it is accompanied by a 1957 certificate from the Philatelic Foundation and a 2018 certificate from Professional Stamp Experts.
