Auction Lot Gambling Time Once Again.

I'm posting this prior to receiving the lot in hand, so when it arrives we'll see if I struck gold... or struck out.

I had been watching some lots at the latest Kelleher online-only auction, but due to a time conflict I was unable to be present during the bidding. Nothing was THAT important that warranted my making accommodations, so I just checked in after the fact to see what the results were.

I was somewhat surprised that the following lot was passed at $200.

I contacted Kelleher and asked if they were willing to consider offers. I ended up purchasing the lot at a price that even after 20% BP and shipping still ended up below the original opening bid.

I buy lots like this to hunt for cancels and plate varieties, amongst other things. But there was one particular aspect of the writeup that implies that there MIGHT be more to it than meets the eye. Of course it could be a slip of the keyboard or a mistake on the lotter's part, but it's a gamble I was willing to take.

Can you guess what it was? Everything I saw was shown below; I did not see the lot or ask any questions.

I don't have to guess.......

and you are ROFL because you were the consignor or what?

No, just because I know why he bought it; it's really so obvious that I have to laugh. But a Non revenue collector might not see it.

You've thoroughly stumped this (non revenue collecting) chump!

I was at a coin shop one time in my hometown and the dealer was selling
these checks for a dollar each and I didn't really know much about them,
but they looked interesting. There must be 500 or so. So I offered him $50
and he took it.

I'm not a Revenue collector at all, but it looks like an interesting field to get into. I'm sure the statement "mostly Bank Check and Certificate stamps from the First Issue or Battleship series of 1898" is the key phrase. But why ... I'm clueless.

You nailed it.

Bank checks are typically found with Scott R5c (2-cent Bank Check blue, CV $0.50), R6c (2-cent Bank Check orange, CV $0.45), and R15c (2-cent USIR, CV $0.25) on them, and to a lesser extent R9c (2-cent Express blue, CV $0.40), and R10c (2-cent Express orange, CV $14.00).

The fact that the describer saw enough "Certificate" stamps to mention it in the listing implies a number of them with R7c (2-cent Certificate blue, CV $32.50) or R8c (2-cent Certificate orange, CV $50.00)

(I'm excluding the possibility of imperf or part perf examples, all of which would be nice to find as well).

It's possible that there is only one or two Certificate examples and for some reason it caught their eye. If that's the case, then oh well, my bad.

The other possibility is that the Certificate stamps are not 2-cent denominations, but rather 5- or 10 cent, meaning that some of the documents are not bank checks but promissory notes or small-format certificates.

Regardless, there's enough possibilities here to make it interesting for a comparatively nominal cost.

Also, both the 2-cent bank check and 2-cent certificate are home to major double transfers (T5 and T7 accordingly), and while the odds are remote at best, one can never tell. As it is, R6c is rife with all manner of minor double transfers, and the 2-cent Certificate has a foreign entry worth looking for...