An 1883 4c deep blue-green special printing is valued at $65,000 ahead of a sale of rare stamps at Schuyler Rumsey Philatelic Auctions.

The auction will take place in San Francisco on April 24-27.

The 1883 special printing was produced in a small batch

The stamp is among the finest known examples of the rare issue, which was produced in a small batch to test a new steam powered press.

Around 1,000 of the stamps were printed and delivered to the postmaster's office for review.

They subsequently found their way on to the market and are now considered among the most desirable US issues.

A strip of three 1846 10c St Louis Bear stamps are estimated at $40,000.

The stamps were issued in 1845-1846 to enable customers to pre-pay postage before the official government stamps were introduced in 1847.

These provisional examples were only permitted following an act of Congress passed on March 3, 1845, that standardised postage fees across the US.

Eleven cities released their own provisional stamps, but the St Louis issue is the most valuable due to its stunning design - which is based on the Great Seal of Missouri.

We have an excellent set of stamps available, including this outstanding Canadian 1851 12d - the only known unhinged example.  

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