ITALY – 1919, 2/DOLLARI/Pechino surcharge on 5L Ultramarine and rose – worth $40,000

2/DOLLARI/Pechino surcharge on 5L Ultramarine and rose is a phenomenal stamp of the Offices in Peking with this extremely rare type of surcharge with all capital letters in “DOLLARI”. The most common type of Peking was made by adding a surcharge with “dollari” in lower case to an already overprinted stamp for Peking from the previous issue. In the same year of 1919 this unique type with “DOLLARI” in all capital letters was produced. The final type was produced in 1920 being similar to the first type with all letters lower case, but in this instance both the surcharge and the Peking overprint were all one handstamp which made “Pechino” shorter. The lowercase types of the Two Dollar value are important philatelic issues of the Italian Offices, but the type with all capital letters in “DOLLARI” is a major rarity without equal. Only fifteen stamps are known, both in mint and used condition. One of the finest specimens was sold for $40,000 at Spink auction on January 29, 2008.