1994 29c Legends of the West, Error with Free Regular Sheet

U.S. #2869-70
1994 Legends of the West
Error Sheet with FREE Non-error Sheet

Issue Date: December, 1993
Quantity: 150,186
Printed By: Stamp Venturers
Printing Method: Photogravure
Perforations: 10.1 x 10
Color: Multicolored

Only 150,183 of US #2870 error sheets exist – just a tiny percentage of collectors can own it! This is your chance to make sure The Legends of the West Error Sheet is part of your collection. Plus you’ll receive the reprinted corrected version free – a $24.95 value!

Did you know Mystic sued the U.S. Postal Service over this sheet?

Mystic wanted to force the release of all Legends of the West error sheets (#2870) and prevent their destruction.  Offering them all for sale would give thousands of collectors a chance to own a modern error.  But the Postal Service won and sold just 150,000 by mail order lottery, not nearly enough to meet collector demand.  Though we lost, we’re proud to stand up for our fellow collectors.

This famous issue contained two mistakes made by the United States Postal Service and led to a string of events without precedent in the history of US stamp collecting.

Mistake #1: One of the people to be featured on the sheet was black rodeo star Bill Pickett.  After the stamps were announced, but not officially issued, a radio reporter phoned Frank Phillips Jr., great-grandson of Bill Pickett, and asked him about the stamp. Phillips went to his local post office, looked at the design and recognized it as Ben Pickett – Bill’s brother and business associate. The stamp pictured the wrong man! That was the first mistake.

Phillips complained to the Postal Service and Postmaster General Marvin Runyon issued an order to recall and destroy the error stamps. Runyon also ordered new revised stamps be created – US #2869.

Mistake #2: Before the recall, 186 error sheets were sold by postal workers – before the official “first day of issue.”  These error sheets were being resold for sums ranging from $3,000 to $15,000 each!

Postal Service Lottery: Several weeks later, the US Postal Service announced that 150,000 error sheets would be sold at face value by means of a mail order lottery. This unprecedented move was made with the permission of Frank Phillips Jr. so the Post Office could recover its printing cost and not lose money. Sales were limited to one per household. The remaining stamps were destroyed.

This extremely limited issue - 150,186 error sheets total - could never satisfy the demand from all collectors in the US.  Only a few lucky collectors are able to have a Legends of eh West Error Sheet to call their own.  Now you can add this modern rarity to your collection.