Victoria. A VERY RARE RATE 1850-53 1d dull red, Ham printing from third state of dies, tied by barred oval '25' of Lake Colac on folded entire letter addressed locally, with 'COLAC/MA 25 1853/VICTORIA' ds on reverse; according to the Barwis census, only 27 covers are known showing the 1d town letter rate -25 covers originate from Melbourne-, and this is one of only two Provincial 1d town letters recorded, unique in private hands (the other letter is from Shelford and it is part of a public archive), one of the rarest postal rates of Victoria Expertise: Certs. Perry (2006), R.P.S.L. (2018) and B.P.A. (2020) (Image)

HANDPAINTED ESSAYS 1900 QV 1/2d green and 1d carmine essays made from cut-down keyplates in the issued colours, with the country name and value tablets handpainted over Chinese white, which has also been used around the frames, mounted on card (84x29mm), one of three pairs of these essays which were made (with one of them having the value tablet in solid colour) Provenance: Armstrong booklet of 1910, Adutt Green, Maisel, Booth and Podger Expertise: Cert. RPSL (2013) with this pair stating that these are not original De La Rue essays. However, in the view of this (including Stanley Gibbons who sold the Podger collection) and the previous owners, there is little doubt that these are indeed genuine essays (Image)

RARE LADIES ENVELOPE 1873 (Oct 15) Ladies envelope to Wales, handstamped small frank (Type 1) boxed "FALKLAND/PAID./ISLANDS", with "FALKLAND ISLANDS" cds alongside, rated '6'. Small closed tear at top. reverse with blue decorative border along flap edges, small part backflap missing and repaired tears, embossed flower motif on flap, rare usage Expertise: Cert. RPS (1947, sent by Lt. Col. Wilson) (Image)

1837 William Wyon City Medal in bronze, 55mm, to celebrate Victoria's first visit to the City of London after her accession to the throne, one side showing the Queen's head which was the model for the head on the line-engraved postage stamps of 1840–79, including the Penny Black, 1847–54 embossed stamps of and the postal stationery from 1841–1901, fine and scarce, with only 350 examples struck in bronze, see SG Spec Vol 1 pg. 7. An ideal frontispiece to a Line Engraved, Embossed or Postal Stationery exhibit collection (Image)

A RARE CANCELLATION ON A PENNY BLACK 1840 1d Black pl.8 RC, fine to good margins, cancelled by London "TOMBSTONE" ds iN red, very fine and a rare cancellation on a Penny Black Expertise: Cert. PE (2002) (Image)

1840 Mulreadys & Caricatures. FIFTH OF MAY MULREADY USAGE 1840 (May 5) 1d Mulready wrapper, stereo A25, sent from London to Liverpool the day before it was valid for use and hence with Britannia uncancelled and ms "2" denoting postage due, the top backflap opens up to nicely show a clear London 5 MY 5 / 1840 cds with "TP / EastPlace" hs, some light restoration to repair a central tears, a very rare May Date Mulready with only 9 recorded on this day in Jackson's "May Dates" (Image)

A "FIRST SUNDAY" MULREADY ENVELOPE 1840 (May 10) Mulready 1d envelope, forme 2 stereo A150, sent from Worthing to London and cancelled by bold red Maltese Cross cancellation in an orange shade, reverse showing clear WORTHING / MA 10 / 1840 cds which displays nicely with the open sideflap, fine and rare, with only 16 1d envelopes recorded sent on the first Sunday after issue in Mike Jackson's "May Dates" (this cover illustrated on p.302) (SG from £16'000) (Image)

SUPERB USAGE OF THE NUMERAL IN CROSS CANCEL 1843 (Apr 5) Wrapper from London to Preston bearing four single four-margin 1d red-brown pl.29 GC-GF (originally a strip of four), beautifully tied by crisp London "2" in MCs, reverse with despatch and arrival cds, exhibition quality cover (Image)

1854-70 Perforated Line Engraved. AN IMPORTANT HISTORICAL DOCUMENT AND A UNIQUE USAGE ON A BRITISH STAMP 1855 (Jan 28) Entire from Charles Bracebridge, mentor and protector of Florence Nightingale, sent to Italy most unusually by French Post, bearing GB 1854 1d tied by “petits chiffres” “1896” lozenge of Marseilles, believed to be A UNIQUE CANCELLATION ON ANY GB ADHESIVE, with adjacent “ESCADRE DE LA MEDITERRANEE”, a scarce mark even on French mail Note on the contents: “Florence is opposite me, writing to the Secretary of War….” and referring to Lord Raglan as the modern-day “Prometheus Vinctus”. Within the outer entire is a further letter written some days earlier, stating it to be withheld pending the arrival of a consignment of gifts to all at the hospital. The litany of horrors suffered in the war, along with the successes which Florence was able to bring about, covers some eight pages A document of the utmost historical importance, a major centerpiece of any Crimean exhibit, and a unique GB used abroad cover (Image)

RARE SHADE 1860 1 1/2d rosy Mmauve pl.1 NL, mint nh right marginal with partial inscription "Back be careful no", very fine and fresh example (SG £7'000+) Expertise: Cert. RPS (2013), signed Raybaudi and E. Diena (Image)

1855-1900 Surface Printed » 1865-67 Large Uncoloured Corner Letters, Wmk Large Garter & Emblems. 1865-67 9d Straw pl.4, wmk Emblems, mint og, fine and scarce stamp with fresh colour (SG £4'800) (Image)

1855-1900 Surface Printed » 1867-83 High Values. SUPERB CANCEL 1867-83 10s Greenish Grey on white paper, wmk MC, with crisp and central St. Enoch Square cds, small corner crease, a very attractive example of this scarce high value (SG £3'200) (Image)

1867-83 £5 Orange BM on white paper with neat Glasgow cds, a very fine and desirable stamp (SG £3'500) (Image)

VERY RARE PLATE VARIETY 1902-10 De La Rue 10d slate-purple & deep (glossy carmine) in mint nh right marginal single showing constant variety "dot in right hand 0", very fine and scarce shade which has the appearance of being enamelled (SG Spec. M43(4), £4'500) Expertise: Cert. RPS (1988) & RPS (1993) (Image)

King George V » 1913-19 Seahorse Issues. RARE WATERMARK VARIETY 1915 De La Rue Seahorses 5s carmine, mint nh with INVERTED WATERMARK, very fine and scarce (SG £6'750 for mint nh) (Image)

Queen Elizabeth II. 1963 COMPAC 1s6d with error BLACK OMITTED (cable) in mint nh vertical strip of three with two normals, very fine and rare variety especially in pair with a normal, with only 22 examples recorded by Pierron (SG £7'000+) (Image)

1973 County Cricket 3p W. G. Grace with error GOLD OMITTED (Queen's head), mint nh, tiny bend at top left otherwise very fine, with only about 29 mint examples recorded by Pierron (SG £6'000) Expertise: Cert. BPA (2013) (Image)

Telegraphs. RARE REVENUE SPECIMEN 1877 £1 Telegraph colour trial in dull mauve in mint imperf. block of four with SPECIMEN type 8 overprint, one stamp mint nh, very fine and attractive block (SG £3'200+) (Image)

1855-1946 De La Rue and later Crown Colony Issues. A KEY K.E.VII SET 1902-11 KEVII 1/2a to 25r, mint set of 17 with extra shades of the 1/2a, 3p, 2a, 4a (2), 6a, 8a 1R, 2R, 3R, and 5R, some low values with creases, the high values very fine, a rare and desirable set (SG £3'750) (Image)

This lot will be sold as number 70095A during the public auction.
1879 De La Rue master die proofs on two striking book pieces, both with void country and value tablets with one showing cleared tablets and the other with filled tablets, with both pieces endorsed "Leeward Isl / chgd to Antigua" and dated Nov 7 79, the pieces affixed to card due to the fragility of the paper which has split to varying degrees, the proofs with some minor soling, unique items and exhibition items for a Leewards Island or key-plate collector (Image)

Pigeonmail. THE FAMOUS PIGEON POST 1899 Third Issue: "Pigeongram" ovpt on One shilling green-blue (Campbell Paterson No.VP3), neatly tied by superb circular sunburst cancel "THE ORIGINAL/GREAT BARRIER PIGEONGRAM SERVICE" (type 3) on complete flimsey, an attractive and very fine example of this popular and rare usage Expertise: Cert. BPA (1993) (Image)

Mafeking. ONE OF ONLY FOUR RECORDED 1900 Serif 2s on 1s green, Mafeking April 3 1900 cds, small corner crease at lower left and a little discolouration, still a fine looking example of this very rare stamp, this being only the 4th example discovered, a rarity of Mafeking and South African philately (SG £38'000) (Image)

ONE OF ONLY THREE RECORDED 1861 No Wmk 6d deep green, imperf. with partial "CANCELLED" hs, part og, presented by the printers Perkins Bacon to Ormond Hill (the nephew of Sir Rowland Hill) for members of his family, very fine and extremely rare, from position 5 of the block of six so struck (although only three so far have been recorded) (SG £9'500) Provenance: Glossop, Bessemer, Peter Jaffe, "Tatiana" (Image)

ONE OF ONLY SEVEN RECORDED 1926 (Dec 31) Envelope sent locally unfranked, addressed in Gujrati and English, with Zanzibar cds on reverse, showing "T" in circle tax mark at upper right, the deficiency paid by 1926-30 type D1 6c black on orange Postage Due affixed at left (uncancelled as always), typical insignificant blemishes but very fine, a great rarity, being one of only ten recorded examples of this stamp, of which seven survive on card or cover (Image)