Rare Second Essayan Multiple

This item just sold for about $100. From the weak print its already apparent, that this is not from the original printing, but from the reprints. Also, tete-beches are not possible within the original printing, since one design was used over a whole stone. I have multiples from the originals as well as complete sheets of the reprints. For the reprints several designs were mixed and put together on a single stone. Multiples are quite rare, and very rare when from the reprints. This is the first I have seen so far – besides the sheets in my collection.

Conclusion: This is certainly a very interesting and rare item. Still, its a reprint. Not even the originals were used without overprints. While I like this, others might say it does not belong into a stamp collection.

EDIT: I got a mail suggesting to compare this item with the sheets. When doing so it seems unlikely that is is a gutter piece. The space between the two pairs is to small and there seems to be a border at the left side just after two stamps. Perhaps Essayan (the printer) arranged the designs differently or tested what arrangements were possible. We do not know at this point. Only one thing seems to be clear: this is a very rare item.