Jenny Booklet

The Story Behind theWorld’s Greatest Stamp Rarity

The Jenny InvertPlate-Number Block

Copyright 2006 Mystic Stamp Company, Inc.

The Jenny Invert Plate-Number Block is America’sgreatest stamp rarity. It has always been the most

sought-after and valuable of the six inverted Jenny blocks.It is the only plate-number block from the legendary 191824¢ airmail stamp error sheet, which makes it unique.

Although the “upside-down airplane” stamps are amongthe most recognizable in the world, the unique Jenny InvertPlate-Number Block spent decades in relative seclusionand was rarely exhibited.

Nearly 90 years after it first made headlines, America’sgreatest stamp rarity was featured in headlines aroundthe world. The Jenny Invert Plate-Number Block wasauctioned for $2.97 million, a record amount for a U.S.philatelic item.

Less than two weeks later, the legendary plate-numberblock attracted even greater attention. Television camerasrolled as philately’s elite gathered to watch the World’sGreatest Trade – the one-for-one exchange of America’srarest stamp for America’s greatest stamp rarity.

This is its story...

Visit Mystic’s website at www.mysticstamp.com and click on the “Jenny Swap” tab for more information.

Don Sundman and Charles Shreve exchange stamps on November 2, 2005.

The Greatest Trade in Philatelic HistoryOne-for-one Exchange of the 1868 1¢ Z Grill for the

1918 Jenny Invert Plate-Number Block

The following article was written by Matthew Healey. It was published inthe November 21, 2005 issue of Linn’s Stamp News and is reprinted herewith permission.

Less than two weeks after anonymously bidding nearly $3 million atpublic auction for the famed U.S. Jenny Invert Plate-Number Block, thenew owner identified himself and traded the stamps away November 2.

Bill Gross, well-known bond fund manager and collector of classicU.S. stamps, swapped the unique plate block of the 1918 24¢ airmailerror with Donald Sundman, presi-dent of Mystic Stamp Company, inreturn for Sundman’s 1868 1¢ ZGrill stamp – the one stamp Grossneeded to finish the most completecollection of classic 19th-centuryU.S. stamps ever assembled. Thehistoric trade took place at the NewYork City offices of Shreves Phila-telic Galleries.

Charles Shreve, president ofShreves Philatelic Galleries, represented Gross.

Mystic Stamp Company President DonaldSundman and brother Dave, President ofLittleton Coin Company, with the JennyInvert Plate-Number Block.

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“This was the world’sgreatest trade,” said Sund-man, who purchased thenearly unique Z Grill stampat auction in 1998 for$935,000, until now a recordprice for a single U.S. stamp.

Sundman called his Z Grill“the Hope Diamond of Amer-ican philately and the key toany collection. When weacquired it, it really reposi-tioned our company – itshowed our buying power.”

Sundman says he expectsthe stamp to continue toincrease in value as its true rarity is appreciated.

He added, “The rarest American stamps are undervalued and still haveroom to grow in price because they’re symbols of U.S. culture.”

The room was packed with three television crews, several reportersand numerous philatelic VIPs, some of whom, to judge from conversa-tions I overheard, had been underbidders at the Jenny Invert Plate-Num-ber Block auction as well as at the last Z Grill auction in 1998.

“Envious” was a word I heard several times. The media attention,unusual for a stamp event, was an indication of the momentous nature of

this trade.

Tracy Shreve, co-owner ofShreves Philatelic Galleries,introduced her husband CharlesShreve, Donald Sundman, andAllen Kane, director of theSmithsonian Institution’s Nation-al Postal Museum, which willdisplay both known examples ofthe 1¢ Z Grill stamp in 2006.

After very brief speeches,

Robert A. Siegel Auction Galleries Catalog forOctober 19, 2005.

Maynard Sundman reviews the sale catalogafter the trade. Sundman, 90, founded LittletonStamp Co. in Littleton, N.H., in 1945. Littletonhas served millions of stamp and coin collectorsin the past 60 years. Mystic acquired Littleton’sstamp operations in the mid-1980s.

Mystic President Donald Sundman andCharles Shreve interviewed after the trade.

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Shreve and Sundman smiled for photographers and ceremoniallyexchanged the stamps, together worth $6 million, which were encased inprotective plastic.

Sundman started collecting as a child. He recently recalled how hisfather Maynard Sundman would sit with him and his brother David on theporch of the family home and teach them how to put hinges on stamps.

The senior Sundman started the Littleton Stamp Co., which is now theLittleton Coin Co., and run by David. Maynard Sundman, now 90, stillgoes to work there every day.

Bill Gross, whose PIMCO firm manages assets worth $500 billion, is

Three television crews joined printmedia reporters and an eageraudience to witness the exchange.

Pictured above are David Sundman(left), President Littleton CoinCompany and Wilson Hulme(right), Curator NationalPostal Museum.

Stamp Collectors MakeBlockbuster NY Trade

Philatelists Make

$3 Million Trade

–National Public Radio

Stamp Sale Lands $3m “Holy G

rail”

Blockbuster Stamp Swap Worth Millions– ABC News

– BBC NEWS

2 Collectors Set to Swap Rare Stamps

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The trade attracted media attention from around the world.

Pakistan

Times

by all reports a passionate stamp collector. He has been building his col-lection of classic U.S. stamps for more than 10 years and has won topinternational awards each time he exhibits it.

In an exclusive interview with Linn’s in June 2005, Gross said that heviews his stamps as a relaxing hobby but that he has them costed andentered in a spreadsheet.

Charles Shreve, the stamp dealer and auctioneer who bought the PlateBlock as an agent of Gross and then arranged the trade for the Z Grillstamp said, “Bill Gross is very interested in exhibiting competitively andwill continue to do so. He is focused on the 1847 issue, and he is stillinterested in the largest known multiples of classic stamps whenever hecan obtain them.”

The Jenny Invert airmail error stamp is a legend beyond the world ofstamp collecting.

The blue-and-red stamp got its name from the Curtiss JN-4H biplanethat was printed upside-down in error. Only one 100-stamp pane cameinto collectors hands, which makes the Plate-Number Block unique.

With a long and illustrious history, the stamp’s fame has made it asymbol of the charm of pioneer airmail service.

Sundman said Mystic, which has shown its 1¢ Z Grill stamp in itsadvertising for several years, would soon switch to using the JennyInvert Plate-Number Block instead.

The story of the 1¢ Z Grill stamp, though more obscure than the leg-end of the Jenny Invert, provides no less fascinating a window into theearly days of American postal service.

The federal government was concerned that people would try to reusestamps after washing off the postmark ink on canceled stamps. To makethis less likely, stamp printers experimented with pressing various waf-flelike rectangular grills into the stamp paper, to break the fibers andallow the canceling ink to be better absorbed.

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Why I Traded America’s Rarest Stampfor the Unique Jenny Plate-Number Block.

by Donald SundmanPresident Mystic Stamp Company

I traded the 1¢ Z Grill for the Jenny Invert Plate-Number Block because it sounded like itwould be fun. It was also the only way to guaranteeMystic would own the two best U.S. stamp rarities.

I loved buying, owning, and exhibiting the 1¢ Z GrillMystic purchased in 1998. The 1¢ Z Grill is the rarestand most valuable United States stamp. Although we buy, sell, and ownother rare and wonderful stamps, few compare to the 1¢ Z Grill. In fact, thestamp is so famous and well known that dealers who had a fleeting connec-tion with the stamp twenty years ago still advertise their involvement.

Mystic featured the 1¢ Z Grill in our marketing, and the stamp wasour good-will ambassador at major stamp shows. From time to timecollectors offered to buy the stamp. I rejected their offers because Iconsider the Z Grill to be the Hope diamond of stamps and a sourceof great pride for Mystic.

Over the years Charles Shreve, President of Shreves Philatelic Galleries, said he might have some interest in the stamp if I would sellthe Z Grill. It was the only stamp Mystic owned that was not for sale.

In the fall of 2005, the stamp press reported the news that the owner ofthe unique Jenny Plate-Number Block would auction the block in Octo-ber. Mr. Shreve offered me a unique proposition – if his client acquiredthe Jenny Plate-Number Block, would I trade the Z Grill for it?

The Jenny Plate-Number Block is a fantastic rarity. I first saw it at the 1976 International Stamp Exposition in Philadelphia. Every collec-tor and millions of non-collectors know the stamp, but few have seen thePlate-Number Block. It last sold at a 1989 Christie’s auction for $1.1million to Kerby Confer, at the time the highest price paid for a philatel-ic object. Confer is a collector who knew the famous story and wasdrawn to the rarity, romance, and beauty of the Plate-Number Block.

The idea of a trade of two of the world’s rarest and most valuable philatelic objects seemed whimsical, almost childlike. Stamps and

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Moments after the trade

collecting stamps is about history, fun, and intellectual pursuit. A tradeof the two world’s most valuable items by weight would be historic,fun, and make a great story for stamp collectors everywhere.

Despite this, I turneddown the offer because ofmy enjoyment of possessingthe Z Grill and because I hadcommitted to lending thestamp to the Smithsonian’sNational Postal Museumstarting in June 2006.

When told of my decision,Mr. Shreve’s client generouslyoffered to honor my commit-

ment to lend the Z Grill to the NPM. It was then that I agreed to the trade.

Today I’m thrilled to have been able to trade our 1¢ Z Grill for the Jenny Plate-Number Block. As a boyhood collector, the Jenny Invertwas one of the rare stamps I fantasized of owning. With this trade, thosefantasies became fact and I had the special privilege of owning the two best and most valuable United States philatelic objects. At the tradeitself I experienced a positive feeling of excitement, almost an electricsensation. And I get that same feeling showing the Inverted Jenny Plate-Number Block to collectors and non-collectors.

I’m proud of the positive attention the trade brought to philately. Thestamp trade story was covered around the world, and thousands of peo-ple discovered the history, romance, and intrigue of our hobby.

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Left to right: Allen Kane, Executive Director of theNational Postal Museum; Don Sundman, PresidentMystic Stamp Company; and Wilson Hulme, Curatorof Philately of the National Postal Museum.

Left to right: George Kramer,Chairman Philatelic Founda-tion, premier stamp expertisingand research educational insti-tution; Don Sundman, Presidentof Mystic; and Wade Saadi,President Collectors Club.Founded in 1896, the club doesa wonderful job in promotinginterest in and knowledge ofphilately. They publish the Collectors Club Philatelist.

The Legend of the Jenny InvertThe Jenny Invert may be the most recognized U.S. error stamp ever

issued. So what is it about the upside-down airplane stamps that fuelsour imagination? Perhaps it’s the sheer number of impressive tales thatcome together to make one outstanding stamp story...

The Find: Leaving his wife and infant daughter at home in their one-bed-room apartment, an office clerk of modest means withdraws $30 from hissavings account – an amount worth almost $1,300 today. A new bi-colorstamp is about to be issued, and he dreams of making that once-in-a-life-time find – and he does! Out of 2,000,000 24¢ Jenny airmail stampsissued, he purchases the only sheet of 100 inverted stamps sold.

The Era: World War I produced a new brand of hero – the daring acepilot and his incredible flying machine. Imaginations were capturedwith the announcement that these swashbuckling men would brave theperils of the skies to deliver mail in record time. America thrilled totales of crashes and near-misses, challenges and successes, and dashingyoung men flying by the seat of their pants.

The Owners: Colonel Edward H.R. Green purchased the entire sheet of100 24¢ airmail error stamps for $20,000. Over the course of the following18 years, Green’s antics added to the rich lore of the Jenny inverts. Afterhis death, the Jennys were traded among some of the top U.S. collectors.

The Invert: An invert is the most-prized form of stamp error. Only 11inverted errors have occurred on U.S. postage stamps. The image of anupside-down airplane is instantly identifiable and especially dramatic.

The History: The only inverts released to the public were sold intact ina single sheet of 100. Each stamp was lightly numbered before the sheetwas divided. This simple action allows collectors to follow the paths ofeach beloved stamp over the course of almost nine decades!

The Rarity: The plate number was printed in just one area of the sel-vage – and that would have been trimmed away had the sheet not beeninverted. It’s an accident that the Jenny Invert Plate-Number Blockexists at all! As the world’s greatest stamp rarity, it has commandedrecord-breaking prices throughout its remarkable history. Afterdecades of quiet transactions and anonymous ownership, the Jenny

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Invert Plate-Number Block was auctioned for an unprecedented $1.1million in 1989. In 2005, the legendary stamps shattered sales recordsagain when the block was auctioned for $2.97 million – the largestamount ever paid for a U.S. philatelic item. Experts predict the Plate-Number Block will sell for over $5 million the next time it trades.

Early Aviation and the Curtiss JN-4As a new form of transportation, early flight was a pioneering effort

that suffered from a near-complete lack of precedent. A full 15 yearsafter Orville Wright’s historic 1903 flight, aircraft mechanics, instruc-tors, and flight schools were still virtually non-existent. Planes lackedreliable navigational instruments, pilots crash-landed with their planesbecause parachutes weren’t widely available, and airports were scarceand unlit. Ground crews often rounded up volunteers with automobilesand used their headlights to guide planes to a safe landing.

Aircraft were used solely for surveillance at the beginning of WorldWar I. In fact, enemy pilots frequently waved to each other, secure in theknowledge that they posed no threat to one another. As the war pro-gressed, traditional ground combat was replaced by dogfights and bomb-ing runs, convincing many that air supremacy was the key to victory. Thesignificance of aviation as a military tool prompted rapid advances intechnology. American industry swung into action and produced thou-sands of combat-ready airplanes by the time of the Allied victory in 1918.

Manufactured to train Allied pilots, the Curtiss JN-4 was the first mass-produced U.S. plane. More than 6,000 “Jenny” planes were produced bythe end of the war, which made it the most widely used and recognizablemodel. The single engine Jenny flew at a top speed of 80 miles per hourwith a range of 175 miles, and could maintain an altitude of 11,000 feet.

The “Curtiss JN-4”boasted few frills andeven fewer safety fea-tures. Remarking onits general condition,one pilot observeddryly that his plane’s“carburetor wouldvibrate...so badly thatit would shake the iceoff the wings.”

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Photo courtesy of National Postal Museum

How to Fly a Jenny A 1920s parody attributed to

pilots Sam Stites and Fred Disosway

Inspection: It is best not to inspect this ship. Ifyou do, you will never get into it.

Climbing into the cockpit: Do not attempt toenter the cockpit in the usual way. If you putyour weight on the lower wing panel, it will falloff, and besides, your foot will go through thewing, probably spraining your ankle. The bestway to get into the cockpit is to climb over the tail surface and crawl up theturtle deck. Be sure to brush the squirrel and gopher nests out of the seat.Take care not to cut your hand on the remnants of the windshield.

Instruments: After having carefully lowered yourself into the seat andgroped in vain for a safety belt, take a good look at the instruments; both ofthem. The one on the right is the tachometer. It doesn’t work. The otherone is an altimeter, and functioned perfectly until 1918, when the hand felloff. Look at them now, for after the engine starts you won’t be able to.

Starting the motor: The switch is on the right; it is not connected. Howev-er it gives a sense of confidence to the mechanic who is pulling the propthrough to hear the switch click when you say “switch off”. If for some rea-son the motor does start, don’t get out to pick up the unconscious, and bleed-ing mechanic, he deserved it.

Warming up: Don’t warm up the motor. It will only run a few minutesanyway, and the longer it runs on the ground, the less flying time you have.After the throttle is opened, do not expose any portion of your personbeyond the edge of the cowling. It is no fun to have your face slapped by aflying rocker arm or to be peppered by small bits of piston rings, valves, etc.,that are continually coming out of what were once exhaust stacks.

The Take-off: The take-off is in direct defiance of all the laws of nature. Ifyou have a passenger, don’t try it.

The Flight: After you have dodged through the trees, windmills, and chim-neys until you are over the lake, you will see a large hole in the left side ofthe fuselage. This hole is to allow the stick to be moved far enough to makea left turn.

The Landing: The landing is made in accordance with the laws of gravity. Ifthe landing gear doesn't collapse on the first bounce, don’t worry, it will onthe second. After you have extracted yourself from the wreckage and helpedthe spectators put out the fire, light a cigarette and with a nonchalant shrug,walk (don’t run) disdainfully away. 11

Photo courtesy of National Postal Museum

The AnnouncementThe possibility of airmail delivery had been debated and dismissed for

nearly a decade, so it came as a surprise to many when Postmaster GeneralBurleson suddenly announced that service would begin between New YorkCity, Philadelphia, and Wash-ington, D.C. The year was1918 and the world was at war.Critics argued that every avail-able resource – includingplanes and pilots – was neededto win the war.

However, Burleson brokereda deal with the War Departmenton March 1, 1918, that satisfieda very important military issue.Experienced pilots were scarce. America’s most seasoned pilots were serv-ing overseas, leaving few opportunities for training new recruits. Under thenew arrangement, the Postal Department would handle their traditionaltasks and the military would provide the planes and pilots. Americanswould have a rapid system of mail transportation, and military pilots wouldreceive badly needed flight training. However, the War Department didn’tnotify the Army Air Service of its new assignment until May 3, 1918.

Major Reuben H. Fleet, an Army executive officer in charge of planninginstruction, was placed in charge of making the necessary arrangements.Fleet received his assignment on May 6 – just days before the scheduledMay 15th flight.

The task was overwhelming. Fleet faced a shortage of planes, pilots,airfields, and aircraft mechanics. None of the available planes were

Second Assistant PostmasterGeneral Otto Praeger’sareas of responsibility in -cluded mail transportation.An early and enthusiasticadvocate of airmail, Praegerinsisted that “it would not bea pink tea flying affair” andthat the mail be flown inspite of dangerous weatherconditions. Ironically, the first scheduled flightfrom Washington, D.C., to Philadelphia crashed ina field near Praeger’s country home.

Major Reuben H. Fleet (1887-1975) received his pilot’s wingsas military aviator #74. Assigned to Air Service Headquartersin Washington, D.C., Fleet supervised the training of nearly11,000 pilots by November 1918.

Upon leaving military service, Fleet founded Consolidated Air-craft in 1923. The company developed training aircraft as wellas the famed “Admiral” patrol bombers for the Navy, “PBYCatalina” and the B-24 “Liberator.” World War II broke outshortly after Fleet’s retirement. Fleet volunteered his expertiseas an advisor to private business and the government.

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capable of flying the proposed route. “The best plane we have is theCurtiss JN-4D Jenny, and it will fly only an hour and twenty minutes.Its maximum range is 88 miles at a cruising speed of 66 miles perhour,” Fleet advised.

The Postal Department stood firm in spite of the logistical and safetyissues. The first regularly scheduled U.S. airmail flight was to leaveWashington, D.C., on May 15th. Major Fleet had just two weeks to plana major revolution in communication.

The 24¢ DenominationBy all accounts, the 24¢ fee for airmail

transportation with Special Delivery was anarbitrary decision. At eight times the regu-lar first class rate, the amount outraged sev-eral officials. The figure was equal to morethan $10.00 in modern wages, and the serv-ice only shaved a few hours off existingtransportation time.

As late as April 25, 1918, officialsdenied that a special stamp would beissued to frank airmail letters. The public was told that regular postagestamps would be valid for airmail delivery.

However, available stamps didn’t include a 24¢ denomination. Adecision was made to produce a patriotic red, white, and blue stamp toinaugurate the revolutionary new service and lift war-weary spirits. Itwould be the first bi-colored U.S. stamp issued since the 1901 Pan-American Exposition commemoratives.

The Bureau of Printing and EngravingPrepares the First Airmail Stamp

The formal request for a new 24¢airmail stamp reached the Bureau ofEngraving and Printing less than twoweeks before the first scheduled flight.The understaffed BEP worked aroundthe clock to design, engrave, and printthe first U.S. airmail stamps.

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1918 24¢ Airmail Stamp

Early BEP office

Using a War Department photo, BEP veteran Clair Aubrey Hustondesigned a blue vignette featuring the Curtiss Jenny JN-4 surrounded bya red frame. Although the precise date isn’t recorded, the actual engrav-ing began around May 9, 1918.

The BEP’s “Spider” flat press was used to print the airmail stamps.Used primarily for banknotes, the Spider press printed sheets of 100stamps each rather than the typical 400-stamp sheets.

Because the stamps were to be bi-colored, each sheet would be fedthrough the press twice – once to printthe red frame and a second pass toprint the blue vignette.

On Friday, May 10th, the BEPbegan printing sheets of red frameswith the plate number “8492” in thetop selvage. Late Saturday afternoon,the printing plates and ink werechanged. Sheets with the preprintedred frames were fed through the pressagain to add the blue Jenny vignette and plate number “8493.”

The full sheets of 100 stamps were slightly larger than the typical panesof 100 stamps cut from full-sized, 400-stamp sheets. To make the 100-stamp sheets fit the storage drawers used by postal clerks, the top selvage ofthe 24¢ airmail stamp sheets was cut away during the perforation process.

As a result of this unusual procedure, all non-error stamp sheets ofthe initial printing feature a straight edge at top and no plate numbers orsiderographer’s (plate-maker’s) initials.

With the tight deadline met, the 24¢ airmail stamps were placed onsale slightly ahead of time late Monday afternoon – May 13, 1918.

Unknown at the time, nine of the 20,000 sheets printed had been hand-fed through the printing press upside down. The mistake created aninverted vignette and positioned the plate number on the bottom selvage.At some point, eight sheets were found in the BEP office and destroyed.

However, a single sheet made its way to the New York Avenue post

Spider Press

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office branch in Washington, D.C.

The CollectorStamp collector William Robey eagerly awaited the first airmail flight.

The young Washington, D.C., resident planned to exchange covers withspecial “first trip” postmarks with fellow collectors atthe other two points of the tri-city route.

At the age of 29, Robey was an experienced collec-tor of error stamps and knew the potential for invertsassociated with bi-color printing. On the same dayprinting began on the stamps, Robey advised a fellowcollector, “It might interest you to know that there aretwo parts to the design, one an insert into the other,like the Pan-American issues. I think it would pay to

be on the lookout for inverts on account of this.”

The First Airmail FlightAs the BEP prepared the airmail

stamps, Major Reuben Fleet began thetask of securing a fleet of airplanes,selecting pilots, and untangling a hostof other details.

The plan for the first regularlyscheduled flights in U.S. aviation his-tory seem simple by today’s standards.One plane was to depart New York andfly south at the same time a secondplane flew north from Washington,D.C. The planes were to meet inPhiladelphia to exchange mail bagsand refuel before returning home.

Fleet promptly arranged for the Cur-tiss Aeroplane Corporation to modifysix JN-4’s with 150-hp engines andhoppers for the mailbags. Extra gasand oil tanks were added to increasethe Jenny’s flight capacity. The planeswere shipped from the Buffalo factory

William Robey

Tri-city route for the first scheduled air-mail service. Lieutenant Torrey H.Webb was assigned to fly his airmailcargo 90 miles from New York’s Bel-mont Park Raceway to Philadelphia.Webb’s mailbags were transferred to thewaiting plane of Lieutenant James C.Edgerton, who carried them on toWashington, D.C. The 128-mile Wash-ington-Philadelphia leg was to be flownby Lieutenant George Boyle. However,Boyle flew in the wrong direction.

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to Hazelton Field on Long Island at midnight on Sunday, May 12th.

The search for landing areas in each of the three cities required carefulconsideration. The areas needed to be free of large trees and buildings,visible to the pilots as they approached by air, close to the city, and easi-ly accessible by train or auto.

Fleet made arrangements with the owner of Long Island’s BelmontPark to fly out of the racetrack’s infield. Bustleton Field in Philadelphiawas selected for refueling and mail exchange, and the old Polo Groundsin Washington, D.C., was chosen for the first day of flight ceremonies.Working against the wire, Fleet located aircraft mechanics and had themreassigned to each of the three locations.

Fleet was allowed to personally select four of the six Air Servicepilots required. He chose the most experienced pilots available – Lts.Stephen Bonsal, Howard P. Culver, Walter Miller, and Torrey Webb.Only Culver had more than four months flying experience.

Two remaining pilots were selected by the Postal Department. Lts.George Boyle and James Edgerton had both graduated from flight schoolonly days earlier. They had flown one 10-mile cross-country trainingflight and had just 60 hours of student-pilot air time.

However, Boyle and Edgerton had important political connections.Edgerton’s father was a purchasing agent for the Post Office, and Boyle’sfuture father-in-law was Judge Charles McChord. McChord was the chair-man of the Interstate Commerce Commission and had a pivotal role in pro-tecting a takeover by private companies of the Post Office’s Parcel Post.

Leaving Boyle in Washington to take the first flight, Fleet and theremaining pilots traveled by train to New York on Monday. Any plans toprepare for the flight were abandoned. Instead, the men worked fever-ishly through the night to assemble the Jennys, which had arrived incrates that very afternoon.

The DiscoveryUnaware that the first 24¢ airmail stamps had already been distrib-

uted and placed on sale the previous afternoon, William Robey planneda special trip to the post office on the morning of May 14th. As he lefthis one-bedroom apartment, Robey told his young bride, “I have a verystrange feeling there’s going to be a mistake.”

Some of Robey’s recollections grew fuzzy over the years, but manyessential facts are clear. The young office clerk withdrew $30.00 from his16

bank account, a figure equalto more than $1,300.00 intoday’s wages, to purchase afull sheet of the new stamps.

Shortly after noon, Robeyentered a branch of the postoffice in Washington, D.C.,and asked for a sheet of 100of the 24¢ airmail stamps.When the unknowing clerkplaced the sheet of invertedstamps on the counter, Robey said his “heart stood still.”

After paying for the sheet without comment, Robey asked the clerk ifhe had additional sheets. The clerk apparently realized something wasamiss, closed his window, and contacted his supervisor.

Robey’s search of otherpost office branches wasunsuccessful. He returned tohis office and shared his newswith a fellow stamp collector,who immediately left theoffice to search for more errorsheets. His activities alertedauthorities, who arrived atRobey’s office less than anhour after he returned fromthe post office. The officialsthreatened to confiscate thesheet of inverts, but Robeystood firm.

Alerted to the error, author-ities immediately halted sales

of the 24¢ airmail stamp in Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, and NewYork City as they searched branch offices for other sheets.

A Calculated RiskRobey’s actions in the hours following his discovery suggest that he

never considered keeping the inverted stamps. In stead, he contactedWashington stamp dealer Hamilton F. Coleman immediately. Coleman

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Robey withdrew $30 from his bank account

Reproduction of the error sheet purchased byRobey. Notice the location of the plate-num-ber block, arrow, and sideographer’s initials.They would have been printed in the top sel-vage and trimmed away if the sheet hadn’tbeen inverted.

of fered to purchase the sheet for $500.00 – an amount equal to more than$21,500 today. Robey declined the offer.

Robey’s decision was a gamble. The value of any particular stamp isbased on the law of supply and demand. Although errors in general –and inverts in particular – are highly valued, the extent of the BEP’serror was unclear that afternoon.

In fact, the chief philatelist of the Smithsonian was also present at themeeting and speculated on the existence of other error stamps. Likemany others who searched post offices upon hearing Robey’s news,Joseph Leavy incorrectly assumed the stamps had been printed in tradi-tional sheets of 400 prior to being cut into panes of 100. Had this beentrue, at least 3 more panes of 100 stamps each had to exist and the value ofRobey’s sheet would diminish greatly.

After riding around on streetcars for hours pondering his options, Robeyslipped into his apartment under the cover of darkness. Mindful of thegovernment threats and the potential value of his stamps, Robey and hisbride slept with their newly found treasures hidden under the bed.

May 15th – A Revolution in CommunicationAs the Robeys slept, Major Reuben Fleet and his crew worked feverish-

ly against the clock. Many of the planes required extensive repairs. Onemotor had to be replaced, another’s gasoline tank leaked, fuselage wireswere broken on two planes, none of the air pressure safety valves worked,and several adjustments for poor workmanship had to be made. At 4:30a.m., workers discovered that there was no oil at the field and scrambled tolocate two barrels.

A crowd of several hundred gathered at Washington’s Polo Grounds towitness history being made. After carefully reviewing the route to

After two weeks of frenzied work, the first scheduled U.S. airmail flight prepares for takeoff.

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Photo courtesy of National Postal Museum

Philadelphia on Fleet’s map – a photoopportunity that would become moreironic as the day progressed – Lt.George Boyle climbed inside the Jen-ny. His bags contained 5,500 lettersdestined to fly on the first airmailroute in U.S. history.

Interestingly, the plane on the air-mail stamps bore the same identifi-cation number as Boyle’s aircraft –No. 38262. How this occurredremains a mystery even today.Although numbers had been assignedto the mail planes, choosing the firstplane to fly the Washington leg hadnot occurred and would be done byrandom at the last minute. Yet daysbefore the flight, Marcus Baldwin of the BEP engraved the number38262 on the fuselage of the stamp’s plane.

As President Woodrow Wilson looked on with a crowd of dignitaries,mechanics tried to start Boyle’s plane. The propeller turned but the

engine wouldn’t start. “Why in tar-nation can’t they start that infernalmachine?” sputtered President Wil-son. After four attempts, mechanicschecked the gas tank and realized theplane was out of fuel. Furthermore,there was no gas on the field, somechanics quickly siphoned fuel outof nearby planes. Boyle flew off forhis journey to Philadelphia at 11:46a.m. – 45 minutes late and barelyclearing nearby trees.

Hours later, officials would learnthat Boyle had flown in the wrongdirection and crashed his plane.Instructed to follow the train tracks

north, Boyle had become disoriented and used a southeastern branch of

President Woodrow Wilson and Lt. George Boyle

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Photo courtesy of National Postal Museum

Major Reuben Fleet and Lt. Boylereview the map for the first airmailflight. Fleet’s advice – follow the rail-road tracks northward out of Washing-ton’s Union Station all the way toPhiladelphia.

Photo courtesy of National Postal Museum

the track as his guide. Although Lt.Boyle escaped injury, Jenny No. 38262was lying upside down in a field nearOtto Praeger’s country home, much asit appeared on Robey’s stamps! Themailbags aboard Boyle’s plane werequietly brought back to Washington,D.C., and flown to Philadelphia andNew York City the following day.

Meanwhile, Lt. Webb had left NewYork and arrived safely in Philadelphia.His mail bags were transferred to thewaiting plane of Lt. Edgerton, whoarrived in Washington, D.C., at 2:20p.m. After two weeks of intense prepa-ration and high drama, America’s first

airmail service was established.

In the months that followed,pioneering aviators expandedairmail service, flying by the seatof their pants over the treacher-ous Allegheny Mountains toChicago and eventually the westcoast. Lt. George Boyle, howev-er, was not one of them. Twodays after his first disastrous air-

mail flight, Boyle again left Washington aboard Jenny No. 38262 boundfor Philadelphia. Another pilot escorted him as far north as Baltimore.Left on his own, Boyle quickly became confused and landed on CapeCharles, Virginia – 125 miles south of Washington. According to anenraged Major Fleet, only “the Atlantic Ocean and lack of gas” kept himfrom going further.

Boyle set off again with a full tank of gas – and ran out of fuel shortlybefore Philadelphia. He was forced to crash land and heavily damaged theplane. Boyle escaped without injury but was relieved of his duties.

The cost of sending an airmail letter dropped dramatically in the earlymonths of the service– to 16¢ in July to just 6¢ in December. (SpecialDelivery service became optional with the December rate.) With eachdecrease, a new single color stamp was issued using the same design as the20

Captain Benjamin Lipsner, Superin-tendent of the Army’s Air ServiceProduction, and Colonel Rice Cush-man hold U.S. flag flown on the firstairmail flight.

A total of 8,307 letters were carried on May 18, 1918

Photo courtesy of National Postal Museum

24¢ Jenny. Scott Catalog assigned numbers to the set of 3 1918 airmailstamps based on denomination rather than chronology, which unfortunate-ly created confusion among collectors. The first U.S. airmail stamp (24¢)was issued as U.S. #C3, while the last 1918 airmail stamp is identified as #C1.

The BEP ReactionBecause the 24¢ airmail stamps

were still in production, the BEPreaction to the news of an invertwas swift and certain. On May15th, new procedures were imple-mented to prevent further printingerrors. Shortly thereafter, stillanother change was made toreduce the risk. Each “gener-ation” can be distinguishedfrom the others by the selvageand its characteristics.

The 24¢ airmail stampsheets produced prior to May15 feature a straight edge top,straight edge right side, andselvage on the bottom of thesheet. The plate number wasprinted in the top selvage,which was trimmed awayduring the perforation pro -cess. Because of this proce-dure, a plate-number blockwas only possible on an inverted sheet!

On May 15, in an effort to avoid additional printing errors, the knivesin the perforating machine were reset to leave the top selvage in place andtrim the bottom. The word “TOP” was printed in blue ink in the top sel-vage. In addition, the second knife was switched midway during thisgeneration, so its sheets may have either a left or right straight edge.

On a later date, the word “TOP” was also printed in the top selvagein red ink. Sheets of the third generation feature a top selvage, straightedge at bottom, and the side selvage is always located on the left.

21

On May 15th, the BEP added the word “TOP”in blue ink to sheets of 24¢ airmail stamps tohelp inspectors identify inverted sheets. Shortlythereafter, the word was also added in red ink.Perforation knives were reset to trim the bottomselvages rather than the top.

Eugene KleinAs the dramatic events were unfolding in the

skies above Washington, D.C., William Robeyraced to dispose of his stamps. Fearful that moresheets would appear, Robey wrote to New Yorkdealer Elliott Perry on May 15, 1918, andinformed him of his intent to sell the stamps. Per-ry answered with a request to retain the right topurchase the sheet in exchange for a $1 deposit.Perry’s offer would have allowed him to match thehighest offer. However, Robey didn’t receive theletter in time.

On Thursday, May 16th, Robey met with dealer Percy Mann. Mannoffered $10,000 for the sheet. Although he was still unaware of Perry’sletter promising to equal any offer, Robey declined Mann’s offer andmade arrangements to travel to New York City himself on Friday.

Robey spent Saturday traveling around New York City in an attempt tosell his sheet. He stopped at the office of Colonel Edward H.R. Greenand learned that the multi-millionaire stamp collector was out of town.As the day progressed, Robey received an offer of $250 from EustacePower of Stanley Gibbons, an offer to sell the sheet on commission fromScott Stamp and Coin Company, and a $2,500 offer from John Klemannof the Nassau Stamp Company.

Discouraged, Robey telegraphed Percy Mann in Philadelphia to tellhim that he would be returning home Sunday without a match to hisoffer of $10,000 and had decided to withdraw his stamps from the mar-ket. Mann encouraged him to make a brief stop in Philadelphia on hisway. Mann took him to meet Eugene Klein, who was Philadelphia’smost prominent stamp dealer.

Eugene Klein (1878-1944) was an internationally known stamp col-lector, dealer, and author. At the time of the meeting, Klein was also theofficial expert of the American Philatelic Society. Klein asked Robey toname his price. Robey asked for $15,000 and promised not to sell thestamps to anyone else before 3 p.m. the following day, May 20th.

Before the deadline came, Hamilton Colman contacted Robey with anoffer of $18,000 – exactly 36 times the original offer he’d extended sixdays earlier. However, a deal had been struck with Klein. Robey sold

22

Eugene Klein

his $24 stamp sheet toKlein for $15,000 – a62,500% profit over thepurchase price!

The precise chain ofevents that would unfoldover the course of the fol-lowing days remains a mys-tery. William Robey delivered his sheetof inverted stamps to Eugene Klein’sPhiladelphia office at noon on May 21,1918. Klein ran a front page ad in theMay 25th edition of Mekeel’s WeeklyStamp News which advertised “a few ofthe remaining copies of the only sheet found for $250 each. Copies withone straight edge $175 each.” One week later, Klein’s ad stated that theentire pane had been sold to a philatelist who was incorporating a por-tion of the sheet into his collection and selling the rest.

However, the Dallas News ran the following headline May 22, 1918 –one day after Robey relinquished his pane of inverts to Klein.

Indeed, Eugene Klein had sold the full sheet of Jenny Invert stampsto Colonel Edward H.R. Green for $20,000. News that Colonel Green

Colonel Edward H.R. Greenand his electric car. TheColonel had received a port -able re ceiving set as a giftand enjoyed it im mensely. Athis re quest an additional setwas installed on his electriccar, making it the first radio-equipped automobile in thestate of Massachusetts.

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Dallas News MAY 22, 1918

“E.H.R. Green Pays $20,000 For Hundred Spoiled Stamps”

Courtesy of Captain Noel Hill and Barbara Fortin Bedell

Courtesy Mekeel’s Weekly Stamp News

had paid such an enormous figure (comparable to more than $860,000in today’s average wages) was greeted with skepticism by many.

In reaction to the news, a letter to the editor of the PhiladelphiaRecord proposed purposely printing error stamps to entice such frivo-lous collectors to fund the war. “Collecting stamps and coins does notseem to be a very useful occupation, but it might be made so if collec-tors could be relieved of their money to help the war effort.” Unknownto the editorial’s author, Colonel Green had purchased more than$1,000,000 in War Bonds!

Colonel Green stood 6’4, weighed more than 345 pounds, and had acheckbook balance sufficient to pursue any item that struck his fancy.The Colonel was the son of Hetty Green, the richest woman in Americanhistory. Known as “The Witch of Wall Street,” Hetty had inherited amillion dollars from her father, Black Hawk Robinson, increased it tomore than one hundred million dollars, and went to great lengths to pre-serve every cent. According to legend, Hetty once spent hours searchingfor a 2¢ stamp she’d dropped.

Turned away when a clinic for the needy recognized her, Hettyapplied her own home remedies to her young son’s recurring leg infec-tion. After nine long years, Edward’s leg had become gangrenous andhad to be amputated. Hetty placed money above her own comfort as

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Jenny InvertPlate-Number BlockPositions 87, 88,97, and 98

After the red frame wasprinted, this sheet was fedthrough the printing pressupside down, resulting in aninverted vignette. Had thesheet been fed through thepress properly, the platenumber would have appearedin the top selvage and beentrimmed away after the per-foration process.

well. Too frugal to spend $150 for an operation, Hetty endured a herniafor the final 15 years of her life by tightly wrapping the tender area.

Hetty also disapproved of Edward’s fiancé, Mabel, and what shebelieved to be Mabel’s checkered past. However, Hetty’s 1916 death andher $100 million estate left the Colonel free to do as he pleased. One ofhis goals was to “spend one day’s income in one day.” Buying rare stamps– individually, in sheets, or entire collections – brought him one step clos-er. The Colonel was rather indiscriminate at times – although the JennyInvert was widely reported in the media, he is said to have thought hewas purchasing a sheet of 1901 2¢ Pan-American inverts. Green alsoamassed an impressive collection of rare coins and expensive jewelryduring his lifetime.

Green reportedly asked Klein how the sheet was to fit into his stampalbum. Whether Green’s question was serious or in jest, the course ofphilatelic history was charted by Klein’s response. The dealer suggestedthat fellow stamps collectors would benefit – and Green would recouphis purchase cost – if he sold some single stamps from the sheet. TheColonel agreed to let Eugene Klein break up the sheet of 100 invertedJenny stamps.

Before breaking up the sheet, Klein lightly numbered each stamp inpencil. This simple action hasallowed four generations of stampcollectors to trace the ownershipof each stamp.

Colonel Green kept a plate-number block of 8, the centerline block, the left arrow blockof four, the lower left cornerblock of four containing printingassistant De Binder’s initials inthe selvage, and several individ-ual stamps for his own collec-tion. For the next 26 years, 41Jenny Inverts would remain inthe Colonel’s private collection.

25

Reverse (gummed) side of thelegendary Jenny Plate-Number Block

26

The Coveted Jenny StampsA law in force until 1938 prohibited publishing illustrations of U.S.

stamps, so the Colonel’s sale of individual inverted Jenny stamps gavethe public its first glimpse of the rarities. And demand for the strikingerror stamps was strong from the start.

One of the first individual stamps to reach the public was a copyColonel Green had donated to the Red Cross. Just five weeks after theerror stamp was issued, the organization realized $300 for it at an auc-tion – an amount worth nearly $13,000 today.

Eugene Klein acted as Green’s agent in dispersing individual stamps.By the end of July 1918, Klein wrote that he had sold most of his copiesand expected prices to reach $500.00 shortly. In fact, Klein’s front-pagead in Mekeel's Weekly that offered Jenny Invert stamps Klein had runcontinuously since May 25 ended on July 20th.

Legendary philatelist Benjamin K. Miller also purchased one of thefirst Inverts (position #18) offered for sale. “I got in early and boughtone for $250 and commission,” said Miller, indicating that he dealtdirectly with Eugene Klein shortly after the Inverts were offered forsale. Owning the Jenny Invert inspired Miller to pursue other notewor-thy U.S. stamps, and he devoted ten years to acquiring the most com-plete 19th century stamp collection in history.

Miller owned a 1868 1¢ Z Grill – one of only two that exist. In1925, Miller donated his stamp collection – including the rare 1¢ ZGrill and his Jenny Invert – to the New York Public Library. Coinci-dentally, Mystic traded the only other 1¢ Z Grill for the Jenny InvertPlate-Number Block in November, 2005.

Stories about the trials and tribulations of Colonel Green and his Jen-ny Invert stamps began to circulate during the summer of 1918, stressinghis flamboyant spending and casual indifference to the rare stamps. Thetales grew taller as the years passed, adding to the fame of Green and hislegendary stamps.

Even the highly respected author Max G. Johl repeated Green’s“waste paper basket” story, a tale which claimed 13 straight-edged Jen-ny stamps had fallen off his desk and been thrown away with thegarbage. (After Green’s death, researchers found that each of the 19

straight-edged copies had survived.)

In 1919, several respected philatelic publications mistakenly reportedon the sinking of Colonel Green’s yacht and the loss of his entire stampcollection. Another amusing rumor claimed – erroneously – that MabelGreen had mailed a letter with a Jenny Invert.

Sale prices climbed steadily when the first generation of Jenny Invertswere offered for resale: $675 (1920), $750 (1924), and $1,000 (1928.)Even the Great Depression couldn’t stop the upward spiral. In 1931,Klein sold John Klemann a copy for $2,360 – nearly the amount Kle-mann had offered Robey for the entire sheet 13 years earlier. And theestate of legendary stamp collector Arthur Hind sold his block of four toEthel McCoy for $16,000 in 1936, establishing a new record at $4,000per stamp. However, the real test of the stamp market came in 1944when the Colonel’s estate sold his celebrated stamp collection.

“The Greatest Piece in All Philately” is AuctionedFor 26 years, Colonel Green held nearly half of all the Jenny Inverts

in his private collection. Green never exhibited the stamps, and hadfloated some far-fetched accounts about them. With Green’s 1936death came worries about the impact an estate sale featuring 41 invertswould have on the stamp market.

Collectors would have to wait while four states fought over the rightto claim inheritance tax from Green’s estate.In 1939, the United States Supreme Courtdeclared Massachusetts as Green’s state ofresidence and allowed it to collect $6 millionin taxes on his estate. Green’s widow Mabelhad signed a prenuptial agreement andreceived a lump sum of $500,000 and an$18,000-per-year allowance.

The bulk of the Colonel’s estate went to hissister Sylvia, a childless widow who keptmore than $31 million in an interest-free bankaccount. With the winds of World War IIswirling and no financial reasons for urgency,Sylvia and the Colonel’s executors decided to

Cover of 1944 Harmer,Rooke & Co. auction catalogfor the Green collection.

27

hold trial auctions to test the philatelic market. If the first auctions wentwell, Green’s entire stamp collection would be sold. In the end, Green’scollection comprised 50,000 lots – more than twice the number everoffered from a private collection – sold in a series of 21 auctions.

The Jenny Invert Plate-Number Block of eight was offered in the seventhGreen auction held on November 13, 1944. Although pre-auction estimatesranged as high as $50,000, dealer Y. Souren purchased the Plate-NumberBlock for $27,000 on behalf of wealthy collector Amos Eno.

“Y. Souren” was the name used by Souren Yohannessiantz. A flam-boyant Russian, Souren had fled his native country during the 1920swith a stash of expensive clocks and sold them to bankroll a stampdealership in the United States. In addition to the Plate-NumberBlock, Souren also purchased the remaining three blocks offered inthe subsequent Green estate auctions. At the request of Eno, Sourenremoved four stamps from the original Plate-Number Block, leavingpositions #87, 88, 97, and 98 intact.

Amos Eno was a member of a wealthy family whose history and phi-lanthropy is tightly interwoven with U.S. history. The Eno family’swealth resulted largely from shrewd real estate investments. Variousmembers of the Eno family were instrumental in the construction of thepedestal for the Statue of Liberty, the 5th Avenue Hotel in New York City,the organization of the Progressive Party, and the co-founding of theAmerican Civil Liberties Union.

Raymond H. Weill began his lengthy associa-tion with the Jenny Invert Plate-Number Blockupon the death of Amos Eno. Together with hisbrother Roger, Raymond Weill owned a respectedNew Orleans stamp business which representedwealthy clients with quiet discretion. Acting onbehalf of an anonymous collector, the Weill broth-ers purchased the Plate-Number Block from theEno estate for $18,250 in 1954.

The collector was Benjamin Dwight Phillips,the owner of a large energy company in Penn-sylvania. Represented by the Weills, Phillipsacquired a number of valuable stamps for his

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Raymond H. WeillTogether with his broth-er Roger, Weill discrete-ly acquired several Jen-ny Invert stamps andblocks for wealthy

Courtesy of Philatelic Foundation

29

collection over the course of the next two decades. In 1968, theWeills purchased the entire Phillips collection for a record $4.07 mil-lion. The B.D. Phillips collection included four Jenny Invert blocks inaddition to the Plate-Number Block.

The Weill brothers sold the Plate-Number Block for $150,000 in1971. After quickly regaining ownership, the Weills displayed the leg-endary block in Aristocrats of Philately displays in 1971 and 1976.Among the visitors to the exhibit in 1976 was a young collector namedDonald Sundman, who never imagined that he would be proudly dis-playing the Jenny Invert Plate-Number Block 30 years later at the Wash-ington 2006 World Philatelic Exhibition!

The Weills held the Plate-Number Blockuntil 1989. Auctioned at Christie’s, thePlate-Number Block fetched a record-breaking price of $1.1 million. Sixteenyears later, the anonymous purchaser wasidentified as Kerby Confer, a broadcastingexecutive with a desire for unique andimportant collectibles.

Although the Inverted Jenny Plate-Number Block remained out of the publiceye for decades, other stamps from theerror sheet were shattering sales records.In 1968, the Lilly (siderographer) block sold for $100,000, a recordfor a philatelic item. The Princeton block commanded $500,000 dur-ing a 1979 auction. A single Inverted Jenny sold for $577,500 in 2005– three times its 1998 sales price. In 2002, a lot of three Inverted Jen-ny blocks were purchased by collector Bill Gross for the remarkablefigure of more than $2.5 million.

The $2.5 million sale price for the lot of 3 blocks was eclipsed withthe drop of a hammer at the Robert A. Siegel auction gallery on Octo-ber 19, 2005. At the end of a tension-filled auction, Charles Shreve,bidding on behalf of collector Bill Gross, had purchased the InvertedJenny Plate-Number Block for a world record-setting $2.97 million.

Christie’s Auction Catalog1989

30

Jenny Invert Plate-Number Block ProvenanceNovember 2, 2005 – Mystic Stamp Company traded its 1868 1¢ Z Grillfor the Jenny Invert Plate-Number Block. The exchange involved thetwo rarest U.S. philatelic items with a combined value of $6 million.

October 19, 2005 – Collector Bill Gross had sought the rare 1868 1¢ ZGrill in 1998 and was outbid by Mystic Stamp Company. Only one 1¢ ZGrill is available to collectors, and its acquisition would give Gross themost complete collection of 19th century U.S. stamps ever assembled.An agreement was reached between the collectors – if Gross acquired theJenny Invert Plate-Number Block, Sundman would trade his 1¢ Z Grill inan even exchange. Gross purchased the block for $2.97 million and set arecord for the highest amount ever paid for a U.S. philatelic item.

October 12, 1989 – Kerby Confer purchased the block for a record-setting$1.1 million at Christie’s auction of the Weill brothers’ stock. Conferbegan his career as a teenage disc jockey and hosted a television danceshow in Baltimore. Confer emceed some of the biggest acts in show busi-ness, including the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Iron Butterfly, and JamesBrown, before buying his first radio station. A series of profitable businessdeals allowed him to indulge his childhood passion for collecting a varietyof desirable items, including stamps, coins, and Carl Barks paintings.

January 1976 – Young stamp dealer Donald Sundman of Mystic StampCompany is among the visitors to Interphil ‘76 International Stamp Showwho view the Jenny Invert Plate-Number Block.

1971 – Owned briefly by an anonymous collector from the eastern U.S.who specialized in errors. Selling price $150,000. Weill brothers exhibitthe Plate-Number Block. Unnamed collector sold the block back to Ray-mond and Roger Weill before year’s end. Price unknown.

1968 – Entire B.D. Phillips collection purchased by dealers Raymondand Roger Weill of New Orleans.

May 18, 1954 – Sold at Harmer, Rooke auction by the Eno estate for$18,250. Purchaser was referred to as “Mr. B.” until after his death. Mr.B. was actually Benjamin D. Phillips, a wealthy businessman and dedi-cated collector of classic stamps. Phillips’ collection included a total offive Jenny Invert blocks.

November 13, 1944 – Sold at public Harmer, Rooke auction by the Green

estate as a block of eight for $27,000. Purchaser was Amos Eno, a wealthyreal estate investor and member of a prominent family in U.S. history.

1918 – Intact sheet of 100 inverted stamps purchased by Colonel EdwardH.R. Green for $20,000. Green’s bank balance rivaled his larger-than-life personality, and it has been reported that the Colonel thought he wasbuying a sheet of 1901 Pan-American inverts.

May 21, 1918 – Eugene Klein purchased the complete sheet for$15,000. Although Klein offered a few “remaining” individual stamps inthe May 25, 1918 Mekeel’s Weekly, the entire intact sheet had been pur-chased on behalf of Klein’s client Colonel Green.

May 14, 1918 – William Robey purchased a sheet of 100 of the 24¢ air-mail stamps for $24. Eight other sheets are reported to have been foundand destroyed, and Robey’s are the only inverted stamps known to havesurvived. Robey immediately contacted dealers and sold his sheet oneweek later for $15,000, a 62,500% profit!

31

32

Plate number printed in blueink. Had the error notoccurred, this number wouldhave appeared in the top sel-vage and been trimmed awayafter the perforation process.

The 24¢ stamp was valid onall U.S. mail, so the phrase“airmail” wasn’t included inthe design.

Stamp Positions #87 and #88

Stamp Positions#97 and #98

Before separating the sheet of100 Jenny Inverts for his clientColonel Green, dealer EugeneKlein lightly numbered eachstamp in pencil.

This simple act made it possible to trace each stampthrough the decades and wascritical in solving cases of theft and fraud.

The Jenny Invert Plate-NumberBlock is comprised of stampslocated in the 87, 88, 97, and 98 positions.

Reverse (gummed) side of the legendary JennyPlate-Number Block

The Jenny Invert Plate-Number Block Up Close

After the red frame was printed,an error occurred during theprinting of the blue Jenny Planethat resulted in an invertedvignette.

Mystic Stamp CompanyMystic Stamp Company,

located in Camden, New York,has been serving the needs ofstamp collectors for over 80years. The company is thelargest retail mail order stampdealer in the United States.Mystic offers a full line of U.S. stamps, collecting supplies, supplements,and albums through the renowned Mystic’s U.S. Stamp Catalog.

In the years since its founding in 1923, Mystic has grown to a staff ofover 150 employees, each working hard to help stamp collectors enjoythe world’s greatest hobby. Mystic is proud of its service to stamp col-lectors and stamp collecting, and that its honest, hometown values arefundamental to the way customers and colleagues are treated.

In addition to sending stamps to thousands of collector friends everyday, Mystic also buys millions of dollars worth of stamps each year tosatisfy the needs of those valued customers.

Mystic supports the preservation of our nation’s philatelic heritagethrough donations to the National Postal Museum. Funding of the May-nard Sundman Lecture Hall at the American Philatelic Society headquar-ters in Belfont, Pennsylvania, is just one example of Mystic’s efforts tofurther enhance that heritage.

President Don Sundman and 150 skilled col-leagues serve Mystic’s customers.

Don Sundman with Mystic’s authentic Curtiss Jenny prop.

33

JennyInvertPlateBlock

World’s Greatest Stamp Rarity

MysticAmerica’s Leading Stamp Dealer

The 1918 Jenny Plate-Number BlockFound a New Home at Mystic Stamp

Photo courtesy of National Postal Museum

Anthony F. Nazar

Wilton, ME 04294

Donald SundmanMystic Stamp CompanyCamden, NY 13316

Dear Don,

I’m happy to confirm in writing that Mystic came in as high bidder for my father’s

stamp stock. As you know, my father, Vahe Nazar, was in the stamp business for more

than fifty years owning Boston Stamp, Sterling Stamp and V. Nazar Stamps. He never

really retired. Several years ago I asked his advice on liquidating what might remain of

his stock when the time came. He wrote a name on a slip of paper and handed it to me.

The name was that of your father, Maynard Sundman. He said he’s done business with

Mr. Sundman and his sons for years. He also said you were large enough to be interested

in an estate the size and type of his and he trusted you to treat the family fairly.

Dad passed on this past April and the family felt it best to invite several other stamp

companies to bid along with Mystic for Dad’s stock. As I told you on the phone, Mystic

topped the next closest offer by over ten thousand dollars.I would not hesitate to recommend you and Mystic to anyone wanting to sell

stamps. It was a pleasure doing business.

Sincerely,

“Mystic’s bid of $91,400.00 was nearlytwice as much as the other bids. Mystic‘s bid was also nine times what I thought the collection was worth.”

–J.E.T., New York

“Very friendly,

honest...

I got a fair pri

ce for my

stamps. I would

recommend

Mystic to my fri

ends.”

–G.G., Illinois

“...your buyer inspected theitems and made a very fair offerfor its purchase... You paid forthe material and arranged for itstransportation to your office.This was all done with the highest degree of efficiency andprofessionalism...”

–D.L.E., California

Over the years, Mystic has been publishing letters in advertise-

ments from collectors and dealerswho’ve sold us their stamps.These letters confirm one important

detail that anyone selling stampsshould care about:

Mystic Pays More!

So when it’s time to sell yourpostage stamps, do yourself a favor andjoin the long list of satisfied peoplewho’ve contacted Mystic.Mystic travels for high-value stamp

collections. Not sure of the value?Call today and speak with an expertstamp buyer for honest advice.

JennyInvertPlateBlock

World’s Greatest Stamp Rarity

MysticAmerica’s Leading Stamp Dealer

Call 1-800-835-3609

Mystic Pays More For Stamps!

We’ve Proven It Time and Time Again!

“The best comprehensive U.S. price list ever created by a dealer.”Michael Laurence Former Editorial DirectorAmos Hobby Publishing

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for you. You’ll en joy 128 pages ofcolor photographs, valuable col-lecting tips, fascinating history,plus much more.Complete listing of U.S. postage

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Send today for the Free 128-page catalog and also receive otherstamp offers on approval.

Mystic’s Free U.S. Stamp Catalog� Yes! Please send me the Free MysticU.S. Stamp Catalog.

Name_________________________________________

Address _______________________________________

City/State/Zip __________________________________

Mystic Stamp CompanyDept. SC93, 9700 Mill StreetCamden, New York 13316-6109

Yours Free – Mystic’s NewU.S. Stamp Catalog

�

Reverse (gummed) side of the legendary Jenny Plate-Number Block

Mystic Stamp Company9700 Mill Street, Camden, N.Y.

(315) 245-2690www.mysticstamp.com