SOUTH AUSTRALIA 1855 Perkins Bacon London Printing - Issued Stamps
Sale No: 249
Lot No: 1007
Symbol: #
Cat No: 1
ONE PENNY: 1d dark green SG 1, close even margins, unused, Cat £12,000. Unused, this is a notoriously difficult stamp in fine to very fine condition. Most examples of which we are aware have faults, or have been repaired or cleaned. The Sir Gawaine Baillie and Maurice Burrus/'Besancon' (I) mint examples both with margins close to good sold for $11,500 & €15,000 respectively. However, during expertising, the 'Besancon' stamp was found to have a trivial thin & redistributed gum. It was re-offered in 'Besancon' (III) & sold for €5325.
ONE PENNY: 1d dark green SG 1 marginal horizontal pair from the left of the sheet, margins just clear - at lower-left - to massive, a little aged with a few blemishes & the right-hand unit with an ironed-out vertical crease at left, large-part o.g., Cat £24,000++ (for unused singles without gum). A rare multiple, especially for retaining the original gum. We know of only one other unused multiple, also a pair, in private hands.
ONE PENNY: 1d dark green SG 1 marginal example from the top of the sheet, margins just clear - at lower-right - to huge with a fragment of the adjoining unit at left, light '1' cancel of Port Adelaide, Cat £500. An unusually fine example.
ONE PENNY: 1d dark green SG 1 horizontal pair, margins close to large with a fragment of the adjoining unit at left, '1' cancels of Port Adelaide, Cat £1000+. An unusually fine pair. Ex Louise Boyd Dale/Alfred Lichtenstein.
ONE PENNY: 1d dark green SG 1 horizontal strip of 3, the third unit a little cut-into at upper-right otherwise superb with margins close to large & a fragment of the adjoining unit at left, numeral '71' cancels of Goolwa, Cat £1500+ for singles. The superb 'Besancon' (III) strip of 3 sold for €1935.
ONE PENNY: 1d dark green SG 1 horizontal pair, very fine with margins close to large with ragged fragments of three adjoining units at left & base, minor scissor-cut at the base clear of the design, on front only to the Advocate-General, legible '51' cancels (inverted) & 'MOUNT-BARKER/MR11/ 1856/SOUTH-AUSTRALIA' cds at lower-left. A very fine multiple and a very scarce franking. Ex Henry Frenkle.
The addressee, Richard Davies Hanson, was an early proponent of a 'free' colony in South Australia. After quite a colourful career as a lawyer including a controversial stint in New Zealand, Hanson arrived in Adelaide in 1846 & established a legal practice. In 1851, he was appointed Acting Advocate-General. He was the prime drafter of the Colony's Constitution and, in June 1856, became Attorney-General. He was Chief Minister from 30.9.1857 until 9.5.1860. The next year he was appointed Chief Justice, a position he held until his death in 1876 at his home 'Woodhouse Manor' at Mount Lofty.
Sale No: 249
Lot No: 1013
Symbol: C
Cat No: Collection
ONE PENNY: 1d dark green SG 1 horizontal pair, very fine with margins just clear - at upper-left - to large, tied to cover to "Mt Remarkable" by bold circle-in-bars cancels and fine 'PAID/MR13/1856/ 5 / =ADELAIDE SA=' cds in red alongside, ironed-out vertical fold & the flap removed, Cat £3000+ on cover. Ex Rev James Mursell and Colonel Harry Napier: illustrated on the back cover of the Napier catalogue.
Most of the major collections, including Griffiths, Butler, Jaffé and 'Besancon' have lacked an SG 1 cover. Don Pearce says "this cover is definitely one of the best". It is more attractive than Michael Blake's very fine cover - the stamps heavily cancelled - that sold for $4890. The two 'Chartwell' covers - both with the stamps "touched in places" - sold for £2280 & £2160 respectively.
The post office at Mount Remarkable, 40km SE of Orroroo, opened in 1854, and was renamed Melrose 8.1.1857. It is the oldest town in the Flinders Ranges and was the site of minor copper-mining ventures. The addressee was Henry Robert Bacon, one of the pioneer settlers in the district.
TWO PENCE: 2d rose-carmine SG 2 horizontal pair [R4/2-3] the right-hand unit with Defective First 'E' in 'PENCE', margins just clear - at right - to good, large-part o.g., Cat £1700++. Superb. [See also Lots 1005 and 1018]
TWO PENCE: 2d rose-carmine SG 2 horizontal pair from the base of the sheet, margins good to huge, '1' cancels of Port Adelaide, Cat £180+. Magnificent & superb.
TWO PENCE: 2d rose-carmine SG 2 horizontal strip of 5, virtually full margins except where just touched at upper-left, the fourth unit with a minor stain otherwise very fine, light '25' cancels of Gawler, Cat £450+.
TWO PENCE: 2d rose-carmine SG 2 horizontal strip of 5, the third unit with Defective First 'E' in 'PENCE', margins clear to large, indistinct numeral cancels & small-part 'GAW[LER]' cds, Cat £450++. Superb. [See also Lots 1005 & 1015]
TWO PENCE: 2d rose-carmine SG 2, margins close to good, two superb part-strikes of the Perkins Bacon 'CANCELLED' handstamp, Cat £12,000. This is Position 3 from the original block of 6: see 'CANCELLED by Perkins Bacon' by Peter Jaffé at page 64, where Position 3 is not recorded.
Six similarly defaced stamps from many Colonies were gifted by Perkins Bacon to Rowland Hill's nephew Ormonde Hill, an egregious error of judgment that saw Perkins Bacon lose their stamp-printing contracts. Peter Jaffé's two examples - Positions 2 & 5 - sold for $14,950 & $19,805 respectively. The 'Besancon' (I) example - Position 1 - sold for €8400.
According to our records, with the exception of the Trinidad 6d & 1/-, this appears to be the only other Ormonde Hill 'CANCELLED' stamp of the 75 known for which all six positions are now recorded.
TWO PENCE: 2d rose-carmine SG 2, margins just touching - at lower-right - to good, on front-only to the Commissioner of Police endorsed "Tender for Hay & Corn", with very fine '55' cancel & largely-superb 'STRATHALBYN/DE12/1855/=SOUTH-AUSTRALIA=' cds in blue, superb 'TOO-LATE' handstamp.
The addressee, Peter Egerton Warburton, was a notable explorer & the first man to lead an expedition across the Great Sandy Desert. He was Commissioner of Police from 8.12.1853 until early-1867, when he was dismissed for unspecified reasons.
SIX PENCE: 6d deep blue SG 3, margins just clear - at left - to large with a fragment of the adjoining unit at top, part o.g., Cat £5500. This is an underrated stamp in unused condition. It appears that this stamp may have been the adjoining unit to the right of the next lot.
SIX PENCE: 6d deep blue SG 3, large even margins, part o.g., Cat £5500. A magnificent stamp. Larger than the 'Besancon' (I) example that sold for €7865.
It might be thought that the margins on this stamp are impossibly large. However, Perkins Bacon's chaotic plate-making technique resulted in wide disparities in the distance between stamps, both vertically and horizontally across the sheet. See also Lot 1458.
Sale No: 249
Lot No: 1023
Symbol: F
Cat No: 3 block of 4
SIX PENCE: 6d deep blue SG 3 block of 4, margins just shaved in a couple places to large, ironed-out horizontal crease between the rows, circle-in-bars cancels of the GPO, Cat £720++. for singles.
SIX PENCE: 6d deep blue SG 3 block of 6 (3x2), a little cut-into at places but two units have full margins, circle-in-bars cancels of the GPO, Cat £1080++. for singles. Michael Blake's very fine block of 6 with full margins sold for $3145.
SIX PENCE: 6d deep blue SG 3, very fine with margins close to huge with a fragment of the adjoining unit below, circle-in-bars cancel of the GPO, on mourning cover to England "per Columbian" with 'PAID/AP8/1857/=ADELAIDE SA=' cds & '5' accountancy h/s both in red, London arrival cds of 12JL12/1857 in red, minor blemishes.
The mail would have been carried by coastal vessel to Melbourne to connect with 'Columbian' ex Melbourne 16.4.1857, arrived Suez 28.5.1857; overland to Alexandria then per 'Jura' ex Malta, arrived Southampton 11.7.1857.
SIX PENCE: 6d deep blue SG 3, very fine with margins just clear to large, tied to cover to England "per Royal Charter' by part-strike of the circle-in-bars of the GPO with 'PAID/AU10/ 1857/=ADELAIDE SA=' cds & 'd1' accountancy h/s both in blue, the stamp also tied by London arrival cds of 1857/17OC17 in red, three small peripheral tears well clear of the stamp.
In August 1857, there was no contract 'homebound' sailing to England: see Colin Tabeart at page 197. The cover was carried as a private shipletter per clipper.
ONE SHILLING: 1/- violet SG 4 rejoined horizontal pair, excellent colour, the left-hand unit with margins close to large, the right-hand unit with margins just touching - at upper-left - to large and both with fragments of the adjoining units above, unused, Cat £80,000+. Superb.
The Shilling Violet is South Australia's most famous stamp, and one of the great rarities of the British Empire. The entire consignment of 500,000 stamps received in Adelaide was destroyed due to concerns that the colour could be confused with the 6d deep blue. It is believed that all surviving examples are derived from a block of 24 released by Perkins Bacon. Six of these bore the 'CANCELLED' handstamp, of which four are known. Of the other 18, Tony Presgrave has accounted for the whereabouts of 15, of which several have problems and four are in institutions: see 'Shilling Violet' Issue No 1 (Aug 1985). The very fine singles in Michael Blake and 'Besancon' sold for $51,260 and €55,660 respectively.
Sale No: 249
Lot No: 1028
Symbol: R
Cat No: Collection
ONE SHILLING: 1/- as SG 4 but a reprint from the worn plate in dull violet on thin ungummed card, margins good to large. Ex Garvan Thomas. Colonel Harry Napier had a similar example, stated to be on "thick white paper" but presumed to be the same stock as this stamp. See 'The Empire in Australasia' at page 134, where stated to be "on thick wove". In the Napier catalogue, it was stated that "the only other example known to us is in the Royal Collection".
