unused 1919, 3c Red Brown 'Hawker' (C1, Gibbons 142), well-centered, exceptionally fresh and bright, full o.g. which is lightly hinged, light natural gum wrinkle,

THE 'HAWKER' FLIGHT The very first Transatlantic air mail flight was attempted by Harry Hawker and Major MacKenzie Grieve in a Sopwith biplane named the 'Atlantic'. The plane was forced to ditch at sea. Four days later the plane and the 80 or 81 watersoaked covers were salvaged by a passing ship and delivered to England. Thus nearly all used copies are watersoaked. All envelopes which had not come unstuck were delivered without a receiving datestamp.

Details

unused 1919, 3c Red Brown 'Hawker' (C1, Gibbons 142), well-centered, exceptionally fresh and bright, full o.g. which is lightly hinged, light natural gum wrinkle,

VERY FINE, EXTREMELY RARE, ONE OF ONLY 200 STAMPS ISSUED, Scott retail $14,000.00, Gibbons £14,000, Unitrade C$25,000.00

Lot Essay

Expertization: signed E. Diena, with 1983 E. Diena certificate

Note: Only 200 stamps were issued, of these 87 remained unused, but an unknown number of the eleven unused 'complimentary' copies were also used on cover, thus there are actually less than 87 unused examples still in existence.
photo est.