A remarkable Jonas Grigaliunas collection of Lithuania air post (1920-1940) with many rare and unique items goes up for sale at Cherrystone in New York on February 22, 2012.
The air post collection is neatly mounted on 62 old-fashion style pages, with hundreds of used and unused exhibit quality stamps, proofs and essays, errors and many varieties listed in the Postage Stamps of Lithuania handbook (1978), and also includes many covers and cards.
Highlights include 1920 issue, selection of 27 imperforate plate proofs in various colors; 1921 Allegory of Flight proofs (total of 39 including an incredible total of nine se-tenant pairs with reversed inscriptions), also unadapted essays (nine different, plus a sheetlet of six); 1922 Triangles, with shifted and omitted overprints, imperforate varieties, proofs; 1922 imperforate trial color proofs; surcharges with different varieties; 1924 six different proofs, numerous horizontal and vertical pairs imperforate between, both used and unused; 20c yellow unwatermarked; 60c rose unwatermarked (single and block of four); Imperforate essays in smaller size; 1926 Swallow issue, specialized group with horizontal and vertical pairs imperforate between, including on cover, and other plate flaws, 60c center inverted singles and a block of four;
Highlights also include 1932 Airshow cover signed by pilots Darius and Girenas; Zeppelin Flights; 1933 Darius-Girenas, set of five overprinted triangles; 1935 Vaitkus flight cover; plus an impressive study of the special overprint, with unused single and block of four, used on cover, addressed to Lt. Felix Vaitkus in Kohler, Wisconsin, opened for display and one used in 1939 on registered cover to Riga).
In addition, there is a horizontal strip of three (proof with pinhole guidemarks: left stamp overprinted in green, middle overprinted in green and black, right stamp in black), plus a reference copy. The 1924 Air Post Semi-Postals include the complete set on cover, three die proofs, plus 60c unwatermarked.