Lot 20167 – 1864 Durango 8 Reales Red Vertical Quadrisect Eagle on cover

AN EXTRAORDINARY VERTICAL QUADRISECTDurango 8r red, astonishing vertical quadrisect, wide margins at top and base, used as 2 reales on December 6, 1865 cover from Gavilanes to Durango, tied by neat strikes of « Franco » and « Gavilanes » handstamps (Schatzkès #256). One of just three vertical one quarters of this denomination recorded, this probably being the finest, of great fascination for this spectacular usage in classic postal history and in a remarkably fine state of preservation, enabling to notably enrich the most advanced collection. Cert. Mepsi (1995), backstamped John K. Bash. Scott $15,000.Provenance:John M. TaylorErich KoenigRobert A. Paliafito