1855-57 No Corner Letters. 1855 4d carmine pl.1, wmk small garter on white paper, mint o.g horizontal pair with just the merest trace of a hinge, lovely rich fresh colour, a remarkable piece for the connoisseur and a major rarity of the Queen Victoria era (S.G. £40'000 as singles). Note: Rikki Hyde records a late printing made in November 1856 and January 1857 on a remainder stock of small garter watermark paper which lacked the blueing giving the appearance of white paper, it is believed these amounted to 1'000 sheets, less than a tenth of the overall print run. (Image)

1855-57 Wmk Emblems (inverted) 6d deep mauve imperforate plate proof, good margins, with neat trial cancellation "KF / AP-1 / 1856" cds, very fine and scarce (S.G. £7'500). (Image)

1862-64 Small Uncoloured Corner Letters. 1864 6d lilac pl.4 AC-AD with variety imperforate and watermark inverted in mint o.g. pair from the upper right corner of the sheet, exceptional quality and very rare so fine. (Image)

1862 9d bistre pl.3 TB abnormal imperforate imprimatur from the foot of the sheet showing the plate number, good to very large margins, small natural paper flaw below the Queen´s chin, very fine and rare, unique positional in private hands, ex Earl of Crawford, Colonel A.S. Bates (1934), R.B. Yardley (1944), Major K.M. Beaumont (1965), Dr. Douglas Latto (1992) and "Chartwell" (2011). (Image)

1865-67 Large Uncoloured Corner Letters, Wmk Large Garter & Emblems. 1865-67 Wmk Emblems 3d rose pl.5 mint o.g. imperforate imprimatur, heavy internal wrinkle at top left and tiny ink speck at foot, very rare, one of only 23 possible examples, a rare "abnormal" this stamp was never issued on emblems paper. (Image)

1867-80 Large Uncoloured Corner Letters, Wmk Spray of Rose. 1873 3d rose pl.10 BL imperforate imprimatur, mint o.g., very fine and rare, one of only 22 possible examples many of which are in institutional collections. (Image)

1867 10d red brown pl.1 JA-JC mint horizontal strip of three, large part o.g., corner crease at the lower left of JA not detracting from the very fine appearance of this magnificent multiple (S.G. £10'800 as singles). (Image)

1870 1s Die proof printed in brown on white matt card (92x60mm), produced by De La Rue for display at the 1870 International Exhibition, very rare, only two or three examples believed to exist in each colour. (Image)

1873 1s Green pl.7 imperforate imprimatur, mint o.g. top marginal showing current number "383", very fine and fresh, a unique positional example (the other current number example TK remains on the imprimatur sheet in the Post Office archives). (Image)

1873 (May 19) Entire to Genova bearing 6d chestnut pl.12 abnormal, neatly tied by a fine "88" London duplex cancel in black, arrival bs, a superb example of this rare abnormal on cover, cert. PTS (2019) (S.G. £3'800 as used single). (Image)

1867-83 High Values. 1867-83 Wmk MC 5s pale rose pl.2 DC overprinted "SPECIMEN" type 9, large part o.g., very fresh and attractive (S.G. £1'750). (Image)

1878 10s die proof without corner letters or plate numbers in black on glazed card (60 x 92mm), dated at upper left "May 2, 1878", very fine and rare. (Image)

1883 10s grey green pl.1 BA on blued paper imperforate imprimatur, overprinted "SPECIMEN" type 9, mint o.g., very fine, one of eight taken from the imprimatur sheet in January 1885 of which only five were overprinted "SPECIMEN", a magnificent example of this great rarity, ex Samuel. (Image)

1867-83 Wmk Anchor £1 brown-lilac on blued paper, unused, well centred, vert. crease at top, some cosmetic reperfing, a fine and fresh example of this GB rarity, exceedingly rare with very few offered on the market in the last 10 or 15 years, cert. PTS (2022), signed A. Brun, cert. Calves (as white paper) (SG £140'000) (Image)

1867-83 £5 orange CB on white paper, used with Edinburgh JA 6 96 cds, well positioned, good perfs, dealer mark in violet on back, a fine example (S.G. £4'750). (Image)

1867-83 Wmk Large Anchor £5 orange CD on white paper with superb central Glasgow AP 14 94 cds, faint horizontal crease not noticeable from the front, very attractive example, signed Bühler (SG £3'500). (Image)

1873-80 Large Coloured Corner Letters, Wmk Small Anchor & Orbs. 1873-80 2 1/2d rosy mauve pl.2 on blued paper, tied to 1876 (Feb 15) entire to France by Charing Cross "CX / 7" duplex, Coutts forwarding cachet, Nice arrival bs, very fine and scarce on cover (S.G. £1'650 as single stamp). (Image)

1873-80 2 1/2d rosy mauve pl.2 on blued paper, tied to 1876 (Feb 21) entire to France by Charing Cross "CX / 7" duplex, Coutts forwarding cachet, Nice arrival bs, very fine and scarce on cover (S.G. £1'650 as single stamp). (Image)

1873-80 2 1/2d rosy mauve pl.16 AG imperf. imprimatur with o.g., very fine and rare, being one of 22 stamps removed from the sheet. (Image)

1879 2 1/2d Rosy mauve pl.6 mint top marginal imperforate imprimatur, top margin thinned from being used as a hinge, fine and rare, with only 22 stamps having been removed from the imprimatur sheet (SG £2'500). (Image)

1873 3d rose pl.15 TJ imperf. imprimatur with o.g., fine and very rare with only 22 examples available many of which are in institutionalised collections. (Image)

1873 3d rose pl.12 TH imperforate imprimatur, mint o.g., very fine and very rare with only 22 examples available many of which are in institutionalised collections. (Image)

1876 6d grey pl.15 AK imperforate imprimatur from the top of the sheet showing plate number, mint o.g., very fine and rare, a unique positional in private hands, ex The Earl of Crawford, Colonel A.S. Bates (1934), Major K.M. Beaumont (1965), Dr. Douglas Latto (1992), "Chartwell" (2011, offered as part of a set of 4 plate number examples). (Image)

1877 4d sage green pl.16 HE-IF mint wing marginal block of four, large part o.g., a wonderful multiple of vibrant colour, very scarce so fine (S.G. £5'600 as singles). (Image)

1873-80 4d Sage-Green pl.15 imperforate horizontal pair with "SPECIMEN" type 9 overprint, mint l.h. (one on stamp only) with full margin at right and "RICE_" inscription, light diagonal wrinkle on ML, fine. (Image)