"Lafayette" Collection
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1853-1860 Empire Issue
80 centimes rose tęte-bęche

 unused tęte-bęche pair, original gum, positions 149-150

Provenance:
ex Ferrary (sale #11, lot 155: 10,200 FF), ex Gill and Burrus

References: 
Ceres #T17A, Yvert #18Bc
illustrated in 1975 Yvert & Tellier Specialisé catalog
illustrated in 2000 Yvert & Tellier Specialis
é catalog

Census of unused:
two pairs, the other without gum
block of four

Production information:
The same two plates were used to print 7.1 million copies of the rose 80 centimes stamp. One tęte-bęche cliché was at position 150 (the lower right-hand corner of the sheet) of one of the plates.  Consequently, it can be estimated that only about 24 thousand tęte-bęche pairs were printed.