O2a IMPERFORATE Facit TJ2v1 [1873 8 skilling lilac Official, Imperforate] Mint, no gum, with large margins and Superb appearance. This imperforate has a watermark (which distinguishes it from being a proof); it was issued with gum, but this example is without gum. Huge margins and strong color (for this stamp), however, there is a curious horizontal line in the bottom third -- mostly only visible under 10x magnification -- that is either a paper inclusion, a removed pen mark (this stamp is not known used), or a repaired paper break. As a dealer, I have to assume the worst, but it is sure a nice looking example of a very scarce stamp! Facit 2020 value SEK 5000!
ACTUAL item.
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145.00
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237254
O4, Facit #TJ4a [1882 3 aur Official, perforation 14 x 13.5] First Printing: Orange-Yellow, Dark Brown under UV light, Thin Paper. Mint F-VF centered, with disturbed original gum (with gum is scarce). As the 2013 Facit value of SEK 1100 = $175 [5/13] indicates, this printing is quite scarce. Very attractive.
ACTUAL item.
69.00
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243313
O4, Facit #TJ4a [1882 3 aur Official, perforation 14 x 13.5] First Printing: Dull Orange-Yellow, Dark Brown under UV light, Thin Paper. Mint F-VF centered, with very nice original gum (with-gum examples are scarce). The paper is so thin that the watermark is fully visible from the front of the stamp! As the 2020 Facit value of SEK 1200 indicates, this printing is quite scarce. Very attractive and wonderfully fresh.
ACTUAL item.
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139.00
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237252
O4, Facit #TJ4a [1882 3 aur Official, perforation 14 x 13.5] First Printing: Orange-Yellow, Dark Brown under UV light, Thin Paper. Mint Fine with original gum (with gum is scarce). As the 2013 Facit value of SEK 1100 = $175 [5/13] indicates, this printing is quite scarce. Very attractive.
ACTUAL item.
95.00
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237253
O4, Facit #TJ4a [1882 3 aur Official, perforation 14 x 13.5] First Printing: Orange-Yellow, Dark Brown under UV light, Thin Paper. With AFA Specialized 1997 plate variety #3x "thickening of frame line above 3 of 3 AUR". Mint Fine with original gum (with gum is scarce). As the 2013 Facit value of SEK 1100 = $175 [5/13] for this printing without plate variety indicates, this printing is quite scarce. In AFA, the variety adds 40% value to the common printing, thus this printing is around $250 with the variety. Very attractive.
ACTUAL item.
135.00
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237255
O4, Facit #TJ4a [1882 3 aur Official, perforation 14 x 13.5] First Printing: Orange-Yellow, Dark Brown under UV light, Thin Paper. Mint, Superb centered, but without gum (with gum is scarce). The 2013 Facit value with gum is SEK 1100 = $175 [5/13]. Such nice centering is extremely scarce.
ACTUAL item.
75.00
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237256
O4, Facit #TJ4a [1882 3 aur Official, perforation 14 x 13.5] First Printing: Orange-Yellow, Dark Brown under UV light, Thin Paper. Mint, Superb centered, but without gum (with gum is scarce). The 2013 Facit value with gum is SEK 1100 = $175 [5/13]. Such nice centering is extremely scarce.
ACTUAL item.
75.00
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237258
O4, Facit #TJ4a [1882 3 aur Official, perforation 14 x 13.5] First Printing: Orange-Yellow, Dark Brown under UV light, Thin Paper. Mint, VF centered, but without gum (with gum is scarce). The 2013 Facit value with gum is SEK 1100 = $175 [5/13]. Attractive.
ACTUAL item.
49.00
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237259
O4, Facit #TJ4a [1882 3 aur Official, perforation 14 x 13.5] First Printing: Orange-Yellow, Dark Brown under UV light, Thin Paper. Mint, VF centered, but without gum (with gum is scarce). The 2013 Facit value with gum is SEK 1100 = $175 [5/13]. Attractive.
ACTUAL item.
49.00
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237257
O4, Facit #TJ4a [1882 3 aur Official, perforation 14 x 13.5] First Printing: Orange-Yellow, Dark Brown under UV light, Thin Paper. Mint, F-VF centered, but without gum (with gum is scarce). The 2013 Facit value with gum is SEK 1100 = $175 [5/13]. Attractive.
ACTUAL item.
O4, Facit #TJ4b [1882 3 aur Official, perforation 14 x 13.5] Second (1889) Printing: Light Yellow-Orange, Light Brown under UV light, Medium-Thick Paper. Used with Superb centering and perfect perforations. Neat, proper (REYKJ)AVIK corner cancellation. Such nice examples are hard to find. Very attractive!
ACTUAL item.
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89.00
246560
O4, Facit #TJ4a [1882 3 aur Official, perforation 14 x 13.5, First Printing: Dull Orange-Yellow under daylight and Dark Brown under long-wave UV light, Thin Paper] Used with Superb centering and neat, light, correct corner cancellation. Perfect perforations and nice color. PLATE VARIETY: The top frameline has a large break about one-third from the left side. This variety is not shown in the handbook by Regeling, thus the plate could have been damaged and quickly repaired or the break could have appeared very late in the first printing (and repaired before the second printing), thus not known to Regeling. Facit 2022 value for normal quality examples of the first printing is SEK 1500! That does not take into account the variety; though this variety is not listed by AFA, it is more prominent than most that are listed and those have a value premium of about 65%! Very attractive and wonderfully fresh.
ACTUAL item.
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179.00
237260
O4, Facit #TJ4a [1882 3 aur Official, perforation 14 x 13.5] First Printing: Orange-Yellow, Dark Brown under UV light, Thin Paper. Used VF. The 2013 Facit value is SEK 1500 = $240 [5/13]. Quite scarce with such nice centering.
ACTUAL item.
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160.00
237261
O4, Facit #TJ4a [1882 3 aur Official, perforation 14 x 13.5] First Printing: Orange-Yellow, Dark Brown under UV light, Thin Paper. Used F-VF centered, but with tiny thin spot on one corner perf. The 2013 Facit value is SEK 1500 = $240 [5/13]. Quite scarce!
ACTUAL item.
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39.00
238941
O6, Facit #TJ6c Bright Blue [1873 10 aur, Perf 14 x 13.5, Third Printing (1891)] Mint, XF-Superb centered, lightly hinged example. Wonderfully fresh and with extremely bright color. Definitely one of the nicest examples I have had in 42 years.
ACTUAL item.
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125.00
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239578
O6, Facit #TJ6c with Plate Variety AFA #TJ5ø [1876 10 aur, Perf 14 x 13.5, Third Printing (1891)] Used F-VF with extremely light cancellation. The "string of pearls under ISLAND" variety listed by AFA (double the normal used price). Couple blunted perfs, but remarkably attractive with cancel well away from the variety.
ACTUAL item.
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45.00
243316
O6, Facit #TJ6c with Plate Variety AFA #TJ5x [1876 10 aur, Perf 14 x 13.5, Third Printing (1891)] Used with F-VF centering and light cancellation. The "cuts in left frame line" variety listed by AFA (double the normal used price). Great color, perfect perforations. Very attractive.
ACTUAL item.
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38.00
204982
O6, Facit #TJ6, AFA #TJ5 [10 aur Official, perforation 14 x 13.5] Used Average-Fine horizontal pair. Used multiples are unusual.
ACTUAL item.
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16.00
237250
O8, Facit #TJ8b [1876 20 aur Official, perforation 14 x 13.5] Second (1881) Printing: Dark Green, Clear Print, Thin Paper. Used F-VF with unusually attractive single-ring REYKJAVIK cancellation of type D2 (Facit 2015 SEK 1000 premium value) -- this is a remarkably nice strike of this postmark. This printing is scarce both without defects and with nice cancellation. While this is not perfectly centered, it has been a very long time since I last saw such an attractive example of this stamp. Facit 2015 value for normal quality is SEK 800 plus SEK 1000 for the cancellation! A wonderful example!
ACTUAL item.
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145.00
239654
O8, Facit #TJ8c [1876 20 aur Official, perforation 14 x 13.5] Third (1891) Printing: Light(er) Yellow Green, Medium-thick Paper. Used with F-VF centering and attractive (KOTST)RÖND Crown and Posthorn cancellation. Though this particular C/P cancel does not have a high catalog value, I have had very few of them over the years. The official stamps are generally quite scarce with C/P cancels. Very pretty!
ACTUAL item.
O9 [1895 50 aur Official, perforation 14 x 13.5] Used with Average-Fine centering, and with strong HRAUNGERDI provincial town corner cancellation. Great color, perfect perforations. The stamp centering is typical for the 50 aur. This smaller town cancel is quite unusual on the early Official stamps. Provenance: from the Roger A. Swanson collection, from of a page of six 50 aur stamps sold by Northland Auctions in 1995; subsequently in the Frederick H. Campbell collection, prior to my purchasing the group. Very pretty!
ACTUAL item.
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79.00
243308
O9 [1895 50 aur Official, perforation 14 x 13.5] Used with Fine centering and with bold "(FRA) ISLAND" DANISH INCOMING SHIP MAIL CANCELLATION. Very attractive, but with expertly repaired and reperforated top margin. The stamp centering, clearing the perforations, is better than usual for the 50 aur. While this type of cancellation is commonly seen on regular Icelandic stamps of this era, Danish incoming ship mail cancellations are rare on Icelandic Official stamps. Early Official mail leaving the country is extremely rare; Official stamps were likely only accepted on mail going as far as Denmark. I cannot recall having, in the last 48 years, any examples of an Official stamp this early bearing such a cancellation. Provenance: from the Roger A. Swanson collection, from of a page of six 50 aur stamps sold by Northland Auctions in 1995; subsequently in the Frederick H. Campbell collection, prior to my purchasing the group. The scarcity of this cancellation on this stamp is demonstrated by a) that somebody would so expertly repair such a stamp and b) a high-level collector and prominent international exhibitor such as Swanson would include it in his collection.
ACTUAL item.
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69.00
238797
O10, Facit #TJ10a [1896 3 aur Official, perforation 12.75] First Printing of this perforation: Olive Yellow under UV light. NH VF/Superb 4-block. Lower right stamp Superb; others VF or better. Beautiful block, wonderfully fresh. Blocks of this printing are scarce, especially NH! Break-up value is $605!
ACTUAL item.
590.00
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243321
O10, Facit #TJ10a [1896 3 aur Official, perforation 12.75] First (1896) Printing of this perforation: Olive Yellow under UV light. NH with Fine centering. Very Fresh. 2020 Facit Value SEK 950!
ACTUAL item.