12c 1861 First Design, OG, Scott 59 (60-E6e)

CONDITION: Slightly disturbed gum, virtually perfectly centered on bright white fresh paper, Completely Sound GRADE: Extremely Fine -- not only by objective standards, but this is the finest centered example CERTIFICATES: 1965 and 2008 PF, former stating simply, "it is genuine" COMMENTS: This is a very scarce stamp, especially in sound centered condition. Of the 16 recorded, only five are documented to be completely sound 1) This example, which last appeared in the Siegel sale of March 23, 1972 2) The ex Bayou example 3) The ex Lessman, Hewitt and Concord example, which was sold privately a few years ago for an undisclosed sum to a collector 4) The ex Lilly and Seymour example -- this has not been recently examined to confirm its status as completely sound. 5) The ex Zoellner example The Miller copy is also believed to be sound, but is not available to the market. Scott Catalogue: $60,000