This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 5/6/2025
far better centering than most existing examples, superior quality, among the finest available, without the usual gum problems that plague this issue, with 1960 and 2009 PFCs. There were two sheets of 100 each of the 4c Pan-American with centers inverted intentionally made for Post Office records. An unknown number of these were overprinted "Specimen" and still others were destroyed. The unoverprinted examples were mounted in a Post Office Department book resulting in the vast majority of them having disturbed gum, and a number were also thinned in an effort to remove them from mounting paper. Very few exist today with completely undisturbed original gum and/or free of faults. This example is accompanied by a 1960 PFC which states the stamp has "disturbed gum". It is easy to agree with the written notations on the certificate by the legendary dealer Jack Molesworth who writes "Ridiculous comment, probably the most undisturbed gum of any copy known - most of which have gum missing, thinned, etc. from being stuck down." (the stamp was resubmitted to the Philatelic Foundation, which issued a certificate in 2009 "It is genuine, previously hinged" (the catalogue value in Scott is for examples that have "full original gum that is slightly disturbed.") (a comparable example recently fetched $60,000 hammer in the June 2024 Siegel auction) cat. value $85,000