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PICK OF THE GREATEST COLLECTIONS 

Here, in one spectacular display, are 53 of the rarest gems picked from the world's great stamp collections. LIFE's estimate of values is given, but because stamp economics is highly volatile the actual selling price might be higher or lower. Below, with the identification, are the names of owners or custodians (three owners who prefer anonymity are listed as " Atlanticus," "Pacificus" and " Arcticus"):

1 - Mauritius (British island east of Madagascar), 1848, earliest impression; Pacificus.
2 - Sweden, 1855, rarest stamp of Europe, error, should be bluegreen instead of yellow; Dr. Hans Lundberg, Toronto, Canada.
3 - Honduras, 1925, world's rarest airmail; Oscar Lichtenstein, Rumson, N.J.
4 - Great Britain, 1864, plate 77; British Museum.
5 - Mauritius, 1847; Queen Elizabeth.
6 - St. Louis, Mo., 1845, greenish paper, Postmaster Provisional (a stamp issued by a local U.S. postmaster before government -issued stamps); Raymond H. Weill Co., New Orleans.
7 - Switzerland, 1850, with complete frame around central cross not on later printings; Dr . Hans Leeman, Geneva.
8 - Moldavia, 1858; Philip Ward Jr., Philadelphia.
9 - Western Australia, 1854, Inverted Swan; Ward.
10 - Naples, 1860; Theodore Champion, Paris.
11 - Canada, 1868, on laid paper (on wove paper same stamp worth only $2) ; K. Bileski, Winnipeg, Canada.
12 - New Zealand, 1855; Maurice Burrus, Strasbourg, France.
13 - Newfoundland, 1919; Arcticus.
14 - Mauritius, 1848, with "pence" misspelled "penoe," earliest impression; Burrus.
15- Baden, 1851, color error, should be rose instead of blue-green; Champion.
16- Transvaal, 1869, dark-green tete-heche pair; Br itish Museum.
17- Great Britain, 1902; Robert J. Gill, Baltimore.
18- France, 1849, vermilion block, with tete-heche pair; Champion.
19- Hawaii, 1851, unused, Missionary (so called because it was commonly used by missionaries); Burrus.
20- Uruguay, 1858, tete-heche pair; Atlanticus.
21 - Zurich, 1843; Leeman.
22- Geneva, 1843, strip of three doublestamps; Leeman.
23- Uruguay, 1858, tete-heche pair; Atlanticus.
24-Bavaria, 1849, tete-heche pair in block of 12; Atlanticus.
25- British Guiana, 1852, block of four; Stolow, New York.
26- Egypt, 1926, block of four from sheet of 25 (price quotEll: l is for all 25); ex-King Farouk.
27- New South Wales, 1850; British Museum.
28- Moldavia, 1858, tete-heche pair ; estate of ex-King Carol of Rumania.
29- Natal, 1902; Champion.
30-Uniontown, Ala., 1861, two cents, Confederate Postmaster Provisional ; H.R. Harmer Inc., New York.
31 - Austria, 1856, 6-kreuzer, newspaper stamp; Champion.
32- Cape of Good Hope, 1861, four-pence blue, with one-penny error; Atlanticus.
33-Reunion, 1852; Champion.
34-Portuguese Guinea, 1881, overprinted Cape Verde stamps with one, through Portuguese post-office error, printed "Mozambique"; Champion.
35- Moldavia, 1858, unused; Champion.
36- Honduras, 1925, red air-mail overprint; Lichtenstein.
37- Basel, 1845, first stamp printed in multicolor; Leeman.
38- France, 1869, five francs, value omitted by error; Champion.
39-British Columbia, 1865; Atlanticus.
40- Saxony, 1851, error, should be gray instead of blue; Champion.
41 - Canada, 1851; Atlanticus.
42- British Guiana, 1856, printed on sugar wrapping paper; J. & H. Stolow.
43- Brazil, 1843, 30 reis pair together with 60 reis; estate of Y. Souren, New York.
44-Newfoundland, 1927, De Pinedo ; Mrs. Caroline Cromwell, New York.
45-:-Mauritius, 1847, unused; Champion.
46- Gold Coast, 1883, one penny on four pence; British Museum.
47-Spain, 1851, error, should be red instead of blue; British Museum.
48- Millbury, Mass., 1846, Postmaster Provisional; Weill Co.
49-Tuscany, 1860; Champion. 50-France,
1850, tete-heche pair; Champion.
51-Newfoundland, 1860, orange-vermilion; British Museum.
52-British Guiana, 1856, four cents, magenta, unused; Stolow.
53-Ceylon, 1859; British Museum.