C3a, 1918 24c Carmine rose and blue, Center inverted, Pos. 9, The “Locket” Copy, encased (placed back-to-back with a “normal” 24c stamp) in the original locket presented by Col. Green to his wife Mabel, from the top row and with wide natural straight-edge at top, bright fresh colors, NH, cert states “short corner perf at upper left, a small corner crease at bottom left, another at bottom right” - the corner creases resulting from original placement of the stamp in the locket, the pendant itself with a small chip in the edge of the glass, Very Fine; 2010 PSE certificate (Scott $850,000)

The tale of the “Inverted Jenny” and the “Locket Copy” are well known. The “Cliff ’s Notes” version starts with William Robey purchasing the sheet at a Washington DC post office, his sale of the sheet to Eugene Klein and the subsequent sale of the sheet to Col. “Ned” Green, who, in addition to many other pursuits, was a noted and ardent stamp collector. He broke the sheet up into blocks and singles for sale but kept some multiples and straight-edged singles for himself, and it is one of these singles that he had encased in a locket, two round pieces of glass with a gold rim and clasp for a chain, as a gift for his wife, Mabel. The locket was not sold along with the rest of Green’s philatelic estate and was retained by Mabel until her death in 1950, when it passed on to Dorothy Nicholson, a trusted companion. The “Locket Copy”’s existence became public knowledge in 1956 after an appraisal by NY City dealer George Sloane. Its subsequent history is described in detail in George Amick’s book “The Inverted Jenny” and this celebrated invert was first offered at public auction in 2002.