TWO SHILLINGS & SIXPENCE: 2/6d pale lilac SG 195 plus Perf 10 2d orange irregular strip of 3 & 6d blue x2 on linen-lined cover to England "Via Brindisi", 'SHIP MAIL ROOM/ 5 /NO3/90/SA' duplex cancels, London arrival backstamp of 5DE90 in red, ironed-out central vertical fold just impinges on the 2/6d at lower-right. A rare & highly desirable 4/- franking, paying the 6d per ½oz rate x8. Illustrated by Ed Williams at page 51, where he states that this cover and a parcel label with the 5/- - see Lot 1338 - are the only recorded 'entires' with Postage & Revenue Long Stamps. Michael Blake's large-part linen parcel tag (no address) with £1 x2 & £2 pair sold for $5950.
The addressees, Burgoyne Burbidges Cyriax & Farries, were manufacturers and wholesalers of drugs & other chemicals for the pharmaceutical industry.
TEN SHILLINGS: 10/- dull blue-green SG 197 marginal example from the left of the sheet with Plate Number '1' and Value/Sheet Number '½d 04504' in Blue, blind perfs at lower-right, small thin at the base of the margin, Cat £325++. Ex Jeff Harris: sold for $1280.
South Australia was the only Australian Colony that was supplied with stamp paper bearing both a sheet number and the denomination for which the paper was intended. The surviving inscriptional pieces provide an interesting field of study, especially where paper intended for one denomination was used for another: see Ed Williams Chapter 5 at pages 19-26. For the Perf 10 10/-, there were two printings, each of 3000 stamps (50 sheets). Williams records no surviving value/sheet number pieces for the first printing: this stamp proves the use of Halfpenny paper. The second printing was on 2/6d paper.
SPECIMEN OVERPRINTS: 2/6d violet to £20 dull red-violet SG 195-208 complete set all with 12½mm-Long Overprint, the £2 creased otherwise very fine to superb with large-part o.g., Cat £1500. These stamps are from the original 1886 printings. Most stamps with the 12½mm Overprint are on Perf 11½-12½ stamps specifically reprinted for overprinting thus, what Ed Williams referred to as "special printings": see Lots 1329 to 1331.
The excellent reference 'UPU Specimen Stamps 1878-1961' by James Bendon unfortunately gives the impression that all stamps sent from Adelaide to the Universal Postal Union were 'reprints'. This is not the case: all Perf 10 'SPECIMEN' stamps were from the original printings.
In 1889, 291 sets of overprinted Perf 10 stamps were prepared specifically for distribution to members of the Universal Postal Union. These bore the 12½mm-Long Overprint. Small numbers of sets with 15mm- 17mm- or 18½mm-Long Overprints were prepared later, also from the original printings.
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MANUSCRIPT "SPECIMEN": £4 lemon-yellow, £10 copper, £15 silver and £20 dull red-violet plus Perf 11½-12½ Small Holes £5 grey, each with manuscript "Specimen", the £10 & £15 with strong metallic sheen, large-part o.g. Rare and very fine to superb. Ed Williams at page 34 states "In a few Perf 10 sets with 18½mm 'SPECIMEN', the £4 to £20 exist with handwritten Specimen...". This is thus a complete 'set' of the substituted denominations, and is the set illustrated by Williams at page 35. Bill McCredie's similar set sold for $5125. Another set sold in Austria in 2020, and only one other set is known to us. Peter Jaffé had the £4 £15 & £20 with the "Specimen" removed and fake cancellations applied.
The status of these stamps is somewhat different from those with 'SPECIMEN' Overprints. They were prepared on an ad hoc basis from sheets from the original printings. Because they were not overprinted, they can be considered as mint stamps, or as close to mint stamps as one is likely to encounter. The only unendorsed mint Perf 10 High Values are the unique set Ex Baron Ferrari de la Renotiere. The five denominations are priced by Gibbons as follows: Perf 10 £4 @ £13,000; £10 @ £12,000; £15 @ £40,000; and £20 @ £48,000; and Perf 11½-12½ £5 grey @ £11,000 for a total of £104,000. The 'Besancon' (II) Perf 11½-12½ £15 mint - Cat £38,000 - sold for SFr36,300. (5)
