Lot 3169 Italian Post China Beijing

Italy, Offices in China -- Peking, 1919-20, $2.00 on 5l Blue & Rose, Type II (30a; Sassone 30). Mint N.H., exceptional centering with wide margins, bold colors EXTREMELY FINE. A PHENOMENAL MINT NEVER-HINGED EXAMPLE OF THE 2-DOLLAR ON 5-LIRE PEKING SURCHARGE TYPE II. A WORLD CLASS RARITY OF NOT ONLY THE ITALIAN OFFICES IN CHINA BUT OF THE ENTIRE WORLD. ONLY FIFTEEN HAVE BEEN RECORDED. THIS IS LIKELY in THE FINEST Quality EXAMPLE IN EXISTENCE. The underlying stamp issues of Italy from the earliest years of the 20th century are notorious for being off-centered -- often times with the design touching the perfs on at least one side. Therefore, for this particular underlying stamp, Sassone lists three separate catalogue values for "moderate", "reasonable", and "perfect" centering. For the 5l (Sassone 78), the values are €55, €100, and €500. We feel this clearly represents the "perfect" centering catalogue. If the same ratios were to apply for this stamp, it would catalogue well above €2 million. There are three types of the $2.00 surcharge with this type the most distinctive. The other types show "dollari" in lower case and are differentiated by the spacing of "Pechino". Unlike nearly all other surcharge and overprint varieties which emanate from different positions of a plate and produced at the same time, this was a totally different surcharge plate. With 1962 A. Diena certificate. Scott $185,000. Sassone €300,000.