B15-17 [1934 Finnish Generals Red Cross semi-postal: E. Horn, T. Stålhandske, and J. de la Gardie] Imperforate Plate Proof set of vertical pairs in final issued colors. VF, Ungummed (as always), Never Hinged. These are genuine plate proofs, but were "taken home without authorization" by one of the workers and discovered many years later after the man died. The price works out to only $30/stamp for an item of which only 100 of each stamp exists in private hands!
Reference
For reference only. NOT for sale.
SOLD
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239576
B18-20 [1935 Scholars: Matthias Calonius (lawyer, jurist) Henrik Gabriel Porthan (historian, humanistic sciences, author) Anders Chydenius (priest, philosopher, "the leading classical liberal of Nordic history"); Red Cross semi-postals] Imperforate Plate Proof set of horizontal pairs in final issued colors. VF, Ungummed (as always), Never Hinged. These are genuine plate proofs, but were "taken home without authorization" by one of the workers and discovered many years later after the man died. The price works out to only $30/stamp for an item of which only 100 of each stamp exists in private hands!
Reference
For reference only. NOT for sale.
SOLD
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239577
B21-23 [1936 Statesmen: R.H. Rehbinder, G.M. Armfelt, A. Horn; Red Cross semi-postals] Imperforate Plate Proof set of horizontal pairs in final issued colors. VF, Ungummed (as always), Never Hinged. These are genuine plate proofs, but were "taken home without authorization" by one of the workers and discovered many years later after the man died. The price works out to only $30/stamp for an item of which only 100 of each stamp exists in private hands!
Reference
For reference only. NOT for sale.
SOLD
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249035
B99 [1949 9+3 mk Wild Rose TB Flowers Semi-Postal] NH with F-VF+ centering upper plate block of 6: "4-1949 No 824". Though a common stamp as singles, plate blocks are hard to find.
7.00
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249036
B100 [1949 15+5 mk Coltsfoot TB Flowers Semi-Postal] NH with XF centering lower plate block of 6: "4-1949 No 823". Though a common stamp as singles, plate blocks are hard to find.
11.00
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248822
B182 COLOR MISSING (RED CROSS) ERROR [1967 .20+.03p Red Cross, Horse-Drawn Ambulance, semi-postal] Used with VF centering and very light cancellation. The small red cross below the driver seat is missing. Instead, the white circle into which the red cross was printed is much more obvious. Color missing errors from Finland are extremely rare. This error is not listed in any catalog of which I am aware and it is the only example I have seen. Because color-missing errors, especially on used stamps, are more prone to be chemically created, either intentionally or accidentally, and because of a lack of other reports of this error (even though there would likely only have been one printer sheet of it produced and they could have all been used for postage like this example), I am *NOT* ABLE TO GUARANTEE THAT THIS IS A GENUINE ERROR. SOLD AS-IS. That being said, I have carefully examined this stamp -- all inks and the both sides of the paper -- under daylight, and both LW and SW UV light, and I do not find any of the usual tell-tale characteristics of a chemically removed color. I believe it is a genuine color-missing error. I would not offer it for sale if I did not have confidence in it. It is especially noteworthy that the green text (country name and year date) and the background yellow-orange inks are not altered -- yellow, green, and blue inks are usually the most affected by chemical alteration. Another possible explanation, other than the red color was not printed on this sheet, was that some piece of "debris" came between the red printing plate and the paper, affecting one or more stamps in this way. It seems reasonable to conclude that the quality control inspectors could have easily missed such a small patch of missing color, even if the color was missing from all stamps of the sheet. If this stamp is a genuine color-missing (red not printed) error, which I believe it to be, it is an exceedingly rare item. If it is "only" a freak misprint caused by some other factor, it is still a rare and special item. Such color-missing errors from other "high quality" countries are usually valued very highly, even when a full sheet has been discovered! To my knowledge, this is the only example of this apparent error that has been reported. I do not usually sell stamps as-is, but this is a special case. The downside potential for the buyer is obvious. However, the upside potential for the buyer is huge! (A NH VF example of the normal stamp, with the red cross, is included for comparison.)
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300.00
231873
B200 Non-Fluorescent (Facit #756v2). The rarest of the semi-postal stamps; very few printed! Used VF+ with first day postmark.
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49.00
246870
B241-3 [1990 Butterflies Semi-Postal set] Used VF set of 4-blocks with perfectly struck FIRST DAY CANCELLATIONS. A very popular topic. Just as four sets of singles the break-up value is $14.20.