Lot 5111
#1610c 1979 $1 Lamp, Engraved Brown Inverted, Unused, Original Gum, Never Hinged
PF Graded VF-XF 85, One of the Highest Graded Stamps of the "C.I.A" Invert"
Ausruf: $10,000
Estimate: $10,000 - $15,000
A Very Fine to Extremely Fine example of the popular "C.I.A" Invert. There are only 10 examples in the PSE Population Report of a grade 85 or higher. The lot includes the regular #1610 issue for reference.
The CIA Invert was discovered in November 1986 when a CIA employee purchased a part-sheet of 95 of the $1 "Candleholder" stamp (Scott 1610) at the McLean, Virginia post office for use on official agency mail and noticed that the brown engraved candle and taperstick were inverted relative to the offset background. Nine employees pooled their funds to purchase a replacement sheet at face value and kept the error pane, with each retaining one stamp; the remaining examples, including one damaged during removal, were sold to dealer Jacques Schiff, Jr. Of the original 95 stamps, 93 sound examples reached collectors. A plate strip of 20 from a second pane was later discovered but has since been broken up.
Wann wird dieses Los versteigert?
The Philatelic Icons Sale 2026 | June 26-28
Sale 31: U.S. Stamps – 20th Century — Saturday, June 27, 2026 | 3pm EST, 12pm PST
We are honored to present The Philatelic Icons Sale, the largest and most significant auction Americana Stamps has ever offered.
America's history lives in the letters that crossed goldfields and battle lines, in express covers that linked frontier towns to the outside world, and in the stamps that mark how a young country built its postal system from scratch. This sale brings together more than 1,500 lots that trace that story, including philatelic icons seldom offered to the public.
This auction is a natural fit for 2026, the 250th year of the United States, and for the Boston 2026 World Expo (May 23 to 30, Booth 141), the once-per-decade international exhibition where we are proud to open the sale. More than 750 lots are accompanied by Philatelic Foundation certifications, the largest concentration of certified material we have ever offered in a single sale.
As always, the sale is designed to serve both the collector and the researcher. Whenever available, you can expect:
✔ High-resolution imagery of all aspects of the item
✔ Links to reference articles and supporting research
✔ Links to philatelic certifications
✔ Census data and population insights
✔ Provenance details to trace notable histories
Whether you are pursuing a long-sought rarity or simply enjoy the chance to study material of this caliber, we invite you to explore the Philatelic Icons Sale and join us in Boston for our largest in-person preview to date.