Lot 60866 – THE LARGEST FIRST-ISSUE 1 CENT MULTIPLE RECORDED ON COVER

THE LARGEST FIRST-ISSUE 1 CENT MULTIPLE RECORDED ON COVER

1881, 1c vermilion, an extraordinary horizontal strip of ten comprising a complete row from the sheet of fifty, just touched in places at right and base, otherwise mostly showing clear to large margins, fresh impression, with the strip overlapping the edge at right of October 19, 1883 envelope (partly opened out for display) to Basse Terre (Guadeloupe), tied by Cap-Haitien cds’s on dispatch, repeated alongside, exhibiting part of the arrival cds at right and St. Thomas transit on back; the cover has been backed up with paper as the reverse side was detached from the front through the edges, and the strip, with vertical crease through pos. 4, was separated between the pos. 7 & 8 and rejoined, a fault to occur in such a large strip which would not have been possible to fit the front of the regular cover types used at that time. The largest multiple recorded on cover of this stamp, unique, and one of only three items known displaying a ten-times 1c franking, further enhanced by the most unusual destination for this issue; a significant rarity for both collectors of “Number 1’s” of the World and classic Haiti.

Note: The letter paid the single foreign rate for over 300 miles distance not exceeding 15 grams. External mail to any Caribbean destination in the first issue is very rare. A similar cover, but displaying this value in strips of seven and three, of very fine quality, was used as the title page illustration of the 2000 auction sale of Postiljonen dedicated to the Bruno Sabbatini collection of Haiti, this being probably the most important ever formed. The present item was also offered in that sale with Moorhouse certificate, which is now missing, and it was previously estimated in the « Hispanola » collection sale (1987) at US$12000-15,000.

Provenance: Martín de Bustamante, « Hispanola » collection, Sabattini and Craveri