Collection on annotated pages including Calvert Printings Large Star Wmk Imperforate 1d unused x5 plus a used strip of 3 and 4d used pairs x5, No Wmk Imperforate 1d strip of 3 & pair and 2d pairs used x2, Part-Rouletted 2d x5 & 4d x3 and Rouletted 1d used single & pair, then Robinson Printings Rouletted 2d brown-lilac unused & used pair and Perforated 1d unused x2, lots of annotated shades & varieties including 1d Cracked Electro, 1d Thin Surfaced Paper (RPSofL Certificate 1946), 2d No Watermark, 4d Void Corner (closed tear), etc, a few others with minor faults but the condition is generally fine to very fine, Cat £7000+ (minimum).  (170+) (Image1)

Estimate AU$1,500

Imperforate plate proofs on unwatermarked paper 4d vermilion single, no gum, plus 4d dull red horizontal pair Printed on Both Sides with partial impressions of four units on the reverse, large-part original (?) gum slightly aged. Geoff Kellow states at page 112 that these were "pulled by Calvert when making ready (preparing the plate for printing)". (2 items) 

Grade A/A- (Image1)

Estimate AU$200

Samuel Calvert Printings Large Star Watermark Imperforate Large Star Wmk 1d bright yellow-green SG 41 horizontal strip of 4, good even margins, BN '58' (rated RR) of Lexton, signed in pencil by "GBolaffi", Cat £120+, for singles. A scarce & superb multiple, that is larger & therefore superior to Ken Barelli's strip of 4 that sold for $349.

Grade A+ (Image1)

Estimate AU$400

Samuel Calvert Printings Large Star Watermark Imperforate 1d yellow-green SG 41 Inter-Panneau strip of 4 on piece, margins just clear at sides to huge, light but identifiable Barred Numeral '58' cancels of Lexton, a couple of tiny marks in the margins otherwise very fine, Cat £120+, for singles.

Grade A (Image1)

Estimate AU$500

Samuel Calvert Printings Large Star Watermark Imperforate 1d yellow-green SG 41 horizontal strip of 6, margins just shaved to good, BN '57' of Kyneton, Cat £180+, for singles. An attractive strip, stated to be the equal-largest recorded multiple. Ex Don Davies, sold for £540. Ken Barelli's very fine strip of 6 sold at our auction of 2.5.2014 for $3030.

Grade A-B (Image1)

Estimate AU$1,000

Samuel Calvert Printings Large Star Watermark Imperforate 4d vermilion SG 42, margins just clear to large with a fragment of the adjoining unit at right, unused, Cat £1000. Superb. The vermilion shades are from the first (Setting I) printing, and are much scarcer than the dull red & dull rose shades from Setting II. Ken Barelli's similar example sold at our auction of 2.5.2014 for $2124.

Grade A+ (Image1)

Estimate AU$1,000

Samuel Calvert Printings Large Star Watermark Rouletted 7-9 at the GPO Melbourne 1d yellow-green SG 46 from the right-hand side of the sheet with five vertical marginal watermark lines at right, rouletted at left and cut from the sheet on the other sides with close even margins, light indistinct Barred Numeral cancel, small ink mark at upper-right, under-catalogued at £110. Gibbons mention (in a footnote below SG 56) that "these stamps are normally found rouletted on one or two sides only". Geoff Kellow states at page 114 that this is "a very scarce stamp". The catalogue price has remained unchanged for at least the last ten years since before Ken Barelli's very fine example sold at our auction of 2.5.2014 for $529.

Grade A (Image1)

Estimate AU$250

Samuel Calvert Printings Large Star Watermark Rouletted 7-9 at the GPO Melbourne 1d yellow-green SG 46, rouletted at top & base only and cut from the sheet on the other sides slightly trimmed at right but with a large portion of the adjoining unit at left, Barred Numeral '1' of Melbourne, under-catalogued at £110. See our comments on the previous Lot.

Grade A- (Image1)

Estimate AU$250

Samuel Calvert Printings Large Star Watermark Rouletted 7-9 at the GPO Melbourne 4d vermilion SG 50, rouletted at the sides only clear of the design (just clear at upper-right) and cut from the sheet with margins good at the base and huge at the top (presumably from the top row of the sheet), light but legible Barred Numeral '23' of Buninyong, grossly under-catalogued at £250. Geoff Kellow states at page 114 that "The roulettes usually appear on only one or two sides...All three shades occur but the vermilion is rare". Ken Barelli's very fine re-joined pair with Barred Numeral '9' of Beechworth sold at our auction of 2.5.2014 for $1208, and recently re-sold at our auction of 21.2.2024 for $5040 (!). The only single example we have offered - ex Gary Diffen & very fine - sold at our auction of 5.12.2009 for $2070 (when catalogued at £100). [The illustration is above Lot 941] 

Grade A- (Image1)

Estimate AU$600

Samuel Calvert Printings Large Star Watermark Rouletted 7-9 at the GPO Melbourne 4d dull vermilion SG 50, rouletted on three sides just touching the design at right and cut from the sheet well clear of the design at left, light Barred Numeral '34' of Donnybrook (rated RR), grossly under-catalogued at £250. See comments for the previous lot. [The illustration is above Lot 941 

Grade A (Image1)

Estimate AU$600

Samuel Calvert Printings Large Star Watermark Rouletted 7-9 at the GPO Melbourne 4d deep bright vermilion SG 50, rouletted at the sides only just touching the design at right and cut from the sheet with margins good at base and large at top, superb Barred Numeral '1' of Melbourne, grossly under-catalogued at £250. See comments for Lot 944 above. [The illustration is above Lot 941] 

Grade A (Image1)

Estimate AU$600

Samuel Calvert Printings Large Star Watermark Rouletted 7-9 at the GPO Melbourne 4d dull red SG 51 vertical pair rouletted at the sides only & imperforate horizontally, two fine to very fine strikes of Barred Numeral '2' of Geelong, Cat £150+ for two normal singles. Gibbons state (in a footnote below SG 56) that "these stamps are normally found rouletted on one or two sides only". A scarce multiple. Ex Les Molnar: sold for $230.

Grade A (Image1)

Estimate AU$200

Samuel Calvert Printings No Watermark Rouletted 7-9 at the GPO Melbourne 4d rose-pink vertical pair Imperforate Horizontally Between and at Top SG 63c with a fragment of the adjoining unit above, light Barred Numeral '2' cancels of Geelong, the upper unit with a small thin at top, Cat £3550. Unlike the Large Star Wmk 4d (see previous lots), these were supposed to be rouletted on all sides. Geoff Kellow states at page 118 that "Two errors of omission of the roulettes are known...a used vertical pair is known with no roulettes horizontally". That item is illustrated at page 117, and it is not this pair, making this only the second known example of the error. [There is also a horizontal pair imperf between, in the Royal Collection]

Grade A/B (Image1)

Estimate AU$3,000

William Robinson Printings No Watermark Rouletted 5½-6½ 2d brown-lilac on Horizontally Laid Paper SG 69 block of 4 with rouletting on all sides & between, ironed-out vertical crease at left that doesn't affect the very fine facial appearance, BN '54' of Kilmore, Cat £52+, for singles (that are common). The equal-largest recorded multiple. Ex Don Davies, sold for £420. Ken Barelli's superb block of 4 - then believed to be the only recorded block - sold at our auction of 2.5.2014 for $1440. [The illustration is above Lot 951, below]

Grade A/B (Image1)

Estimate AU$650

William Robinson Printings No Watermark Rouletted 5½-6½ 2d violet on Horizontaly Laid Paper SG 70 block of 4, rouletting just cutting the design at top, unfortunately with untidy & indistinct central Barred Numeral cancel that does thankfully leave the Queen's face clear on three units. A very scarce multiple. Geoff Kellow states at page 120 that "The major used multiple is a block of four of the [brown-lilac] printing". Ken Barelli's three blocks of 4 - in brown-lilac (the item referred to by Kellow), violet & dull violet - sold at our auction of 2.5.2014 for $1440, $633 & $1265 respectively. [The illustration is above Lot 951, below]

Grade A (Image1)

Estimate AU$200

William Robinson Printings No Watermark Rouletted 5½-6½ 4d pale dull rose on Vertically Laid Paper as SG 71 but Rouletted Only at the Sides (Imperf Horizontally), indistinct Barred Numeral cancel. Stated to be the only recorded example: absent from Ken Barelli's and Gary Diffen's collections. Ex Les Molnar: sold at our auction of 29.6.2012 for $442.  [All stamps of this issue were supposed to be rouletted on all sides] The illustration is above Lot 952, below. 

Grade A (Image1)

Estimate AU$500

Samuel Calvert Printings Large Star Watermark Perforated 12 by Robinson 1d yellow-green SG 74 from the bottom row of the sheet with marginal watermark lettering at base, well-centred with perfs almost completely clear of the design, light indistinct Barred Numeral cancel, under-catalogued at £500. Geoff Kellow states at page 114 that "This perforating machine was not introduced until early in 1859, long after the Star printing was exhausted, and the only explanation is that a few sheets were discovered in the PO stock and perforated. About two dozen copies are known" [our emphasis]. Ex Gary Diffen; sold at our auction of 29.1.2008 for $575 (when catalogued at £300). Les Molnar's example - "one of the finest" (but with perfs just into the design at right) - sold at our auction of 29.6.2012 for $1093.

Grade A (Image1)

Estimate AU$600

Samuel Calvert Printings No Watermark Perforated 12 by Robinson 2d pale lilac SG 77, very fine Barred Numeral '151' of Pitfield (rated RR), Cat £450. Geoff Kellow states at page 115 that "these must be cases of imperforate sheets being found in stock and perforated by Robinson in early 1859 ... there are about a dozen used singles. The cancellations found are Barred Numerals 1 (Melbourne), 2 (Geelong) and 3 (Castlemaine)". Pitfield is about 40km SW of Ballarat. Absent from Ken Barelli's collection. Les Molnar's three examples sold at our auction of 29.6.2012 for an average of $587 each (the well-centred, lightly-cancelled example bringing $863).

Grade A (Image1)

Estimate AU$500

William Robinson Earlier Printings No Watermark Perf 12 4d dull rose-red on Vertically Laid Paper SG 80, small-part Barred Numeral cancel, grossly under-catalogued at £325. Geoff Kellow states at page 119 that by the time Robinson began perforating remaining stock in January 1859 "all this printing (or what remained of it) should have been rouletted. The perf 12 stamps must come from a few sheets perforated as an experiment, or found imperforate at a later date. About eight copies are known" [our emphasis]. The catalogue price has remained unchanged since before Ken Barelli's example - "remarkably well centred" - sold at our auction of 2.5.2014 for $1840.

Grade A (Image1)

Estimate AU$1,000

William Robinson New Printings No Watermark Perf 12 1d dull green on Horizontally Laid Paper (Lines Close Together) SG 86a with Major Cracked Electro from Neck to Frame Breaking 'Y' of 'PENNY' and from Oval to Base through 'P' of 'PENNY' with Deformed 'ONE', neat Barred Numeral '3' of Castlemaine largely clear of the variety.

Grade A (Image1)

Estimate AU$200

William Robinson New Printings No Watermark Perf 12 4d rose-pink on Horizontally Laid Paper (Lines Close Together) SG 87a with Cracked Electro from Left Frame to Oval & Oval to Queens' Forehead and from Queen's Ear to Oval at Right, a few short perfs, Barred Numeral '3' of Castlemaine mostly clear of the variety.

Grade A- (Image1)

Estimate AU$200

William Robinson New Printings No Watermark Perf 12 4d rose-pink on Horizontally Laid Paper (Lines Close Together) SG 87a with Void Corner at Upper-Right, large-part Barred Numeral '2' of Geelong impinges on the variety.

Grade A (Image1)

Estimate AU$200