| 1889-1900 "Three Numerals", Both Perforations |  Top |
| Item # |
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US$ | Mint Hinged  US$ |
Used US$ |
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246737 "View EXACT ACTUAL Image"){kind=small} |
39 [1890 5 penni 3-Numeral] PLATE PROOF in DEEP GREEN on ungummed, yellowish-white paper, in imperforate horizontal pair. Never Hinged (ungummed), XF with large margins. Proof from original plate, NOT printed later from defaced, scrapped plate. Proofs of the 5 penni seem to be much scarcer than the 20 or 25 penni denominations. Wonderfully fresh and bright. Proofs of this issue are seldom seen. ACTUAL item. |
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246736 "View EXACT ACTUAL Image"){kind=small} |
39 [1890 5 penni 3-Numeral] PLATE PROOF in DULL GREEN on ungummed, yellowish-white paper, in imperforate horizontal pair. Never Hinged (ungummed), VF with ample to huge margins. Proof from original plate, NOT printed later from defaced, scrapped plate. Proofs of the 5 penni seem to be much scarcer than the 20 or 25 penni denominations. Wonderfully fresh and bright. Proofs of this issue are seldom seen. ACTUAL item. |
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401622 "View EXACT ACTUAL Image"){kind=small} |
Scott #41 [1889 20p orange 3-Numeral, Perforation 12.5] Used with VF centering, very slightly aged paper at top, with an almost complete, XF strike of a 7 May 1890 "HELSINGFORS / BRUNNSP.FILIAL" Finland-Style cancellation. The handbook of this style of cancellation lists this with a rarity factor of 6. (In the handbook for these cancellations, "6", on their 1-10 scale, is awkwardly described as "quite rare", which in that system is one level more common than "rare".) There is an extra spot of postmark in the date area. "Brunnsp." is an abbreviation for the Helsingfors neighborhood with the Swedish name Brunnsparken, or Kaivopuisto in Finnish. "Filial" is a Swedish word for "branch", as in a "branch office". This is considered to be a Finland-Style postmark, even though the word "Finland" is not included. Examples such as this (from larger cities) were made in the same format, at the same time, as those from smaller towns that did include the word "Finland". Examples such as this are also listed in the 1991 handbook of Finland-Style cancellations. (The handbook is now quite hard to find.) The Finland-Style cancellations are a very attractive and "tidy" collecting area. Though I do not have comprehensive records of this cancellation type going back 53 years, I cannot recall previously having this particular cancellation. ACTUAL item. |
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SOLD |
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246739 "View EXACT ACTUAL Image"){kind=small} |
41 [1889 20 penni 3-Numeral] PLATE PROOF in ORANGE on ungummed, yellowish-white paper, in imperforate, upper left corner margin vertical pair. Never Hinged (ungummed), XF with huge margins (plus sheet margins). Proof from original plate, NOT printed later from defaced, scrapped plate. Wonderfully fresh and bright, with brilliant color. Proofs of this issue are seldom seen. ACTUAL item. |
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249101 "View EXACT ACTUAL Image"){kind=small} |
41 [1889 20 penni 3-Numeral] PLATE PROOF in ORANGE on ungummed white paper, in imperforate, horizontal PAIR. Never Hinged (ungummed; never gummed), XF centering with huge margins. A proof from the original plate, NOT printed later from defaced, scrapped plate. Wonderfully fresh and bright, with brilliant color. Proofs of this issue are seldom seen. ACTUAL item. |
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249083 "View EXACT ACTUAL Image"){kind=small} |
42 Deep Ultramarine [1889 25p ultramarine 3-Numerals, Perf 12.5] Mint hinged, with VF-XF centering. Remarkably deep color -- getting into blackish ultramarine territory -- that is very different from both the usual bright ultramarine printings (and of course very different from the blue printings). Bright and attractive with excellent perforations. An outstanding example of a workhorse stamp -- in a very unusual color -- that is now quite difficult to find in such nice quality. ACTUAL item. |
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90.00 |
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401621 "View EXACT ACTUAL Image"){kind=small} |
Scott #43 Bluish Gray and Rose [1890 1m gray (shades) and rose 3-Numeral, Perforation 12.5] Used with XF centering on small piece of parcel card or money order form, with VF HARTOLA Russian-Text 4 May 1896 cancellation. The cancellation strike is quite crisp which is surprising since the HARTOLA device had been in use since at least May 1894 (unless it had been refreshed since then). Though not "rare", this is a scarcer cancellation; it has been many years since I have had an example. A normal single Used example of this stamp is not scarce, however, any used stamps on cover or any type of form or card, are at least "very scarce". Even an example like this that is only on a piece of a form is very seldom seen. Collecting the Russian-text -- as well as the subsequent Russian-text-removed -- cancellations of Finland is a very interesting area. There is a handbook, published in 1997, that pictures and lists both the cancellations with Russian text and then also after the Russian text was physically cut out of the cancellation devices; however examples of the book are quite hard to find nowadays. An outstanding item that is much scarcer than its appearance initially suggests. ACTUAL item. |
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15.00 |
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246738 "View EXACT ACTUAL Image"){kind=small} |
43 [1890 1 mark 3-Numeral] PLATE PROOF in SLATE and ROSE on ungummed, yellowish-white paper, in imperforate left margin single. Never Hinged (ungummed), VF with ample to huge margins, plus large left sheet margin. Proof from original plate, NOT printed later from defaced, scrapped plate -- non of which were printed bicolored. Proofs of the 1 mark are extremely unusual. Wonderfully fresh and bright. Proofs of this issue are seldom seen. ACTUAL item. |
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244530 "View EXACT ACTUAL Image"){kind=small} |
44 IMPERFORATE PAIR [1890 5 mark 3-Numeral] Yellow Green and Light Rose (Facit #33b) of the second (1894) printing. Mint, without gum -- appears to never have been gummed. Huge, even margins. This is an actual stamp printing, in the correct color on stamp paper, not a color proof (unless the color was identical) and absolutely not a private print from a discarded plate. Though imperforates are known to exist [per Waris] for all the 3-Numeral denominations except the 2 penni, Facit only lists some of them. Where Facit does list them, the prices are up to SEK 1200 per mint hinged SINGLE and up to SEK 1600 per NH SINGLE -- in all cases, these values are far too low compared to market demand. The 3-Numeral 1889 Series handbook by Pentti Waris (1998) surprisingly mostly ignores the imperforates (probably due to lack if information; it also ignores proofs) and just makes a general statement: "It is not easy to explain the origin of completely imperforated [sic] stamps, but they were probably illegally taken from the stamp printers." That accusation may be true in at least some cases, perhaps for the imperforates Facit chooses not to list, however, lack of information is not proof to condemn items. After 129 years in the case of this particular stamp printing, I believe it is time to accept such stamps for what they look like: Imperforates. Not withstanding the status of such items, imperforate examples are exceedingly scarce and seldom offered! This is the only example of this imperforate that I have recorded having in 48 years. ACTUAL item. |
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244812 "View EXACT ACTUAL Image"){kind=small} |
61 Dull Carmine [1895 10 penni carmine 3-Numeral, Perf 14x13] Used with XF centering and a very light cancellation, with "J.G.W." PERFIN. Viewed from backside it is horizontal, reading from right to left (thus reads correctly from the front). LAPE 2010 describes this as position Ia; that 4 of the 8 positions are known to exist. It was used by "John Gust. Wikeström" of Turku / Åbo; that as of 2010 was recorded in use from June 1899 through February 1903; and that it is the rarest Finnish perfin, with 0.2% share of all (almost 8000) Finnish perfins recorded in a 1983 census. This is the only example of this pattern (in any position) that I have recorded having in 48 years. ACTUAL item. |
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 "View EXACT ACTUAL Image"){kind=small}