129-E1b 15¢ Unified Die Essay with “15” Overprint

Landing of Columbus

Dull scarlet with ultramarine “15” overprint on India paper.

For the longest time, the philatelic literature has described the overprint on this essay as a “surcharge,” but this is entirely incorrect. National essayed various color combinations of the 15¢ design printed from a single “unified die,” overprinted with “15” in a constrasting color. These were submitted to the Post Office Department for approval hoping that this approach would fulfill their contractual requirement to print this denomination in two colors.

Previously hinged.

SCV $3500