This block of eight mint-condition 90 cent stamps of Lincoln with his image printed upside down is one of only two known.
(Spink Shreves Galleries via Associated Press)
Lincoln stamp auction may draw $2m
This block of eight mint-condition 90 cent stamps of Lincoln with his image printed upside down is one of only two known.
(Spink Shreves Galleries via Associated Press)
Associated Press
/
April 16, 2009
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DALLAS - It's the philatelic version of the Land of Lincoln: A collection of some 10,000 stamps, all featuring the nation's 16th president, is going on the auction block this week.
The collection, painstakingly amassed by an admirer of Abraham Lincoln, carries a pre-sale price estimate of more than $2 million, according to Dallas-based Spink Shreves Galleries, which is holding the auction tomorrow in New York City.
The stamps, some from as far back as the 1860s, all come from the United States or its current or former possessions. The sale has generated worldwide interest, said Charles Shreve, auction house president.
Among the highlights is a proof of a block of eight 90-cent stamps of Lincoln with his image accidentally printed upside-down. The block is expected to sell for $30,000 to $50,000, Shreve said.
"Some guy just happened to take one of those sheets and slip it in [to the printing press] upside down," said the owner of the collection, William J. Ainsworth.
© Copyright 2009 Globe Newspaper Company.
