Since 1792, the Frelinghuysen family of New Jersey has included generations of distinguished politicians. As well as, it emerges, a stamp collector. Former congressman Peter H.B. Frelinghuysen Jr., who died last year at 95, assembled a collection of early American rarities that Robert A. Siegel Auction Galleries is offering in a two-day auction this week. The prize of the collection, to be sold today in New York, is a 1918 Inverted Jenny, one of only 100 that were mistakenly printed upside down. It’s estimated at $450,000.Yesterday’s installment of 95 lots brought in $2.96m, including a 15% buyers premium. Standouts included a circular Alexandria, District of Columbia 5c Black postmaster provisional, which sold for $550,000, more than five times its high estimate, and an Annapolis 5c Carmine Red on White postmaster provisional cover that achieved the same price.
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