The rarest stamp of Denmark is one of the most interesting rarities in that it is a simple perforation variety that is little known. The first Coat of Arms type of Denmark was originally issued perf 14×13 1/2 but then a few years later was issued in smaller quantities perf 12 1/2 (Scott #21 cv $3100 used- We’ve illustrated the more common 4 skilling perf 12 1/2)). There were three different denominations issued this way. Two are just scarce but the third, the two skillings value, is a rarity. And what is more it is about the only Nineteenth Century rarity from any country that can still be found, unidentified, in ordinary collections (I have found three in the last ten years). The reason for this is that the stamp was issued to ordinary Danish post offices with no fanfare over the change in perforation and was used on ordinary mail just like the common variety. As philately became popular, dealers bought up quantities of merchant correspondence and soaked millions of stamps off old envelopes for packets. The variety checkers were pretty good at looking for face different and denomination varieties but these little perf varieties often got past them. They found their way into ordinary Scott international collections and are about the rarest stamp that an ordinary collector can still “find” if he knows what to look for. Happy hunting.
