When I saw this document in the weekly Kelleher internet auction, I was immediately enamored with it, as I had not seen anything similar. The only thing that gave me pause was the opening bid, as it wasn’t cheap. I vacillated between bidding and not bidding, but ultimately I bid on it, remembering the old truism about almost always regretting the things we didn’t purchase more so than those we did.

If I could recall seeing another example in the last 20 years, I might have restrained myself, but in the sage words of Denny Peoples, “Go find another one!”

It is an 1871 “Certificate of Classification” by American Lloyd’s Insurance Company for the schooner “W.H. Green”, built in Boston.

There is nothing inherently scarce or unusual about the revenue stamp usage; this is all about the aesthetics of the document:

• Ornate typography at the top
• Maritime vignette
• Beautiful oversized green underprint of the company seal
• Matching embossed green seal of company
• Well-struck company cancel on the R27c.

Just a great visual presentation. The more I scrutinize the document, the more glad I am that I made the decision to bid.