LEIGHTON BUZZARD - RARE EARLY 'BETWEEN LINES' ABBREVIATED "LEIGH/TON.BUZ" MARK; Fine 12 May 1783 EL (filing folds either side of lower edge of address-panel do not really detract) from "Leighton" charged "3[d]" to London with a very fine strike of this extraordinary and attractive "LEIGH/TON.BUZ" mark (BE138; just clear of light fold) nicely placed on the lower flap, having a "14/MA" arrival Bishop Mark across the join. Very few towns used 'between lines' marks; only a handful of examples of this mark have been recorded (from 1776 to 1783). Exhibition Quality (Image)

WOBURN - THE VERY RARE HANDSTRUCK "6" GENERAL POSTAGE RATE CHARGE-MARK; 14 Dec. 1806 EL (trivial toning at lower right of address) to London (Queen Anne's Bounty Office) with a very fine "WOBOURN/42" boxed mileage mark nicely placed on the front alongside a matching HANDSTRUCK "6" postal rate marking (BE305). Only a handful of examples of this attractive handstruck rate-mark have been recorded, and this example (discovered in a mixed prestamp bundle submitted for this auction by a Cavendish describer) has not been recorded before - it predates the few known (1814-19) examples by eight years! Exhibition Quality.Cross Reference: POSTAGE DUE MARKS (Image)