The Wagshal Collection Part 4: Perforated One-Cent 1857-60 Issue continued...

EXTREMELY FINE APPEARANCE. THIS IS THE CELEBRATED WATERHOUSE STRIP OF THREE OF 1857 ONE-CENT TYPES Ia AND Ic FROM THE BOTTOM OF PLATE FOUR WITH WIDE-SPACED PERFORATIONS. THIS IS WIDELY REGARDED AS ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT 1857 ONE-CENT PERFORATED ITEMS IN EXISTENCE.

Type Ia stamps were produced from 18 of the 20 bottom-row positions on Plate 4. After perforations were introduced in mid-1857, sheets on hand printed from Plates 1 Late and 2 were fed through the new perforating machine, but the narrow spaces between stamps made perforating difficult to accomplish without cutting into the designs. Plate 4 was produced in late 1856 or early 1857 when the introduction of perforations was anticipated, thus, it was entered from a new 6-relief transfer roll, and the spaces between stamps were enlarged to allow for perforations. Some Plate 4 sheets were issued in imperforate form (April to June 1857), while the greater portion was issued perforated beginning in July 1857, along with perforated sheets from Plates 1L and 2.

Plate 4's most distinctive feature is that the top row (Positions 1-10L and 1-10R) was entered with the designs complete at top (Type II), and the bottom row (Positions 91-100L and 91-100R) was entered with designs complete or nearly complete at bottom (Types Ia and Ic). Although the plate layout provided sufficient space for perforations, the height of the top-row and bottom-row designs was larger than others in the sheet, which resulted in perforations cutting into either the top or bottom rows, depending on which direction the sheet was fed into the perforator. Type Ia and Ic stamps from the bottom row are almost always cut into at bottom, an unfortunate situation for collectors because the bottom part of the design is what makes Type Ia and Ic stamps desirable.

The exceptions to the normal cut-into condition of top-row and bottom-row Plate 4 stamps are those with wide-spaced perforations. It has been assumed for years that the pins of the bottom row of the perforator were reset to create more space, but some students of the 1851-57 Issue have begun to reexamine this aspect of Plate 4 production to seek alternative explanations for wide-spaced perforations. Whatever the cause, wide-spaced stamps are extremely rare and highly desirable, because they exhibit all of the features that define their respective types. The so-called Waterhouse strip -- ex Sir Nicholas Waterhouse, Saul Newbury and Mortimer Neinken, and offered here -- has always been regarded as the preeminent example of the "wide-spacing" phenomenon.

Ashbrook devoted an entire article to this strip, "The U.S. One Cent of 1857, Types IA and IC: The Remarkable Waterhouse Strip of Three Acquired by the Newbury Collection" (The American Philatelist). In his book, Ashbrook states: "I consider perforated Type IA stamps that are not touched by perforations as the rarest stamps in the 1857 perforated issue. The finest piece I have ever seen is a horizontal strip of three, formerly in the collection of Sir Nicholas Waterhouse of London England." (Neinken book, pp. 280).

The Scott Catalogue contains a footnote to the basic price quotes: "Copies of this stamp exist with perforations not touching the design at any point. Such copies command very high prices." The Type Ia wide-spaced single (ex Eno, Zoellner, Hinrichs and "Tahoe") realized $330,000 in its last auction appearance.

Ex Waterhouse, Newbury and Neinken (Image)

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