20th Century American Art Appraisal

Collection of Early 20th Century US Postage Stamps on Album Page

This item is a sheet from a stamp album featuring a collection of early 20th-century United States postage stamps. The page is a light cream or off-white color, divided into a grid pattern with faint pencil markings indicating potential catalog numbers or values next to some stamps, such as '13', '15', '50', '40', '45', '50', '18', '42F', '47E', and '47E'. There are 12 stamps affixed to the page spread across three rows. The top row contains four stamps, likely from the Washington-Franklin issue due to the portrait of George Washington. Two stamps in the top row are still attached by their original gum to what appears to be a stamp mount flap, one green (One Cent) and one purple (Two Cents). The other two, one green (One Cent) and one orange-brown (Two Cents, possibly with a 'B' or 'R' surcharge, though unclear), are not in mounts and show signs of having 'four-bar' cancellations, indicating previous use. The middle row displays six used stamps, all with postmarks/cancellations. These stamps depict portraits of prominent US figures, likely George Washington and Benjamin Franklin, in various denominations and colors including green, red, dark purple, brown, blue, and orange-pink. Many of these stamps exhibit heavy cancellations, some in black ink, obscuring portions of the design. The bottom row presents two stamps: a green 'One Cent' stamp and a red 'Two Cents' stamp, both exhibiting heavy cancellations, with the red stamp showing diagonal bars as a cancellation mark. Several stamps appear to have small hinge remnants attached to their backs or have been affixed with small, almost transparent hinges, suggesting they were previously mounted. The paper of the album page itself shows some discoloration and minor creasing, especially at the edges, consistent with age and handling. There are also a few small, loose stamp fragments or pieces of hinging scattered on the page. The perforations of the stamps vary slightly, typical of different production runs within this period. Overall, the collection represents a typical philatelic assortment of common early 20th-century US stamps, primarily from the Washington-Franklin series, valued more for their historical context and the interest of collecting than for high individual monetary worth in this condition.