44b, 1872 3d on 4d Deep ultramarine, Surcharge omitted,
particularly fresh and well centered, cancelled by portion of the Adelaide «S AUSTRALIA» duplex, Small tear at top and light creasing, otherwise very fine example of South Australia»s premier rarity of which so far only 13 examples have been recorded - 3 unused (one in the Royal Collection) and 11 used (four of these in institutions) making only 2 unused and 6 used examples available to collectors; this is the 14th example recently discovered, BPA certificate 2016 (SG 68c, £20,000)
(Image)

CV. Starting Price 10,000

6, 1855 4d Blue, spectacular block of nine with rich color neatly cancelled by black Hobart «64» obliterators, margins ample to just touching in places, some faults and creasing but Fine and delightful appearance; a magnificent block and the largest known multiple(Scott $1,125 as singles; SG 18, £1,080 as singles)
Provenance: Alfred J. Caspary
Koichi Sato (June 2014), lot 50138.
(Image 2) (Image)

CV. Starting Price 4,000

1859 Cover Launceston to Ireland Franked By 1d-4d 1857/69 Chalon Imperforates, 1d brick-red, 2d green (2, shaved to large margins), 4d blue, tied by black «60» numeral obliterators with nice strike of red «Post Office/ Lauceston/ Crown» date stamp at left, ms. «via Marseilles», backstamped Dublin and Bally Gawley (Jan 8 1860), typical mixed margins on adhesives do not detract from a Fine and most attractive three color franking nicely paying the 9d rate; (SG 27, 31, 37)
Launceston was the largest trading center in Tasmania at the time. Postmaster Carrington instructed that the imperforate sheets of stamps be cut into individual stamps to speed up transactions at the busy postal counters. The assistant clerk assigned to the task was rather careless in his cutting as the precision in creating well margined stamps was sorely lacking. Even by 1900, the term «Carrington margins» was being applied to these issues. The stamps on this cover are a perfect illustration of this procedure.
Provenance: Koichi Sato (2014).
(Image 2) (Image)

CV. Starting Price 1,500

1865 Registered Cover Front to London Franked with “Complete Set” of 1857/69 Chalon Imperforates, 1d red-brown pair, 2d yellow-green, 4d blue horizontal strip of three, 6d grey violet (2) and 1sh vermilion (2) all tied by «20» numeral obliterators and black Nov 12 «Circular Head» dispatch cds, straightline «REGISTERED» adjacent, red London Jan 12 1866 arrival cancel, faults as expected, still an eye-catching and extraordinary franking for the high 4/4 rate;(SG 26, 32, 37, 41, 46)
Provenance: Michael Blake (2001).
Koichi Sato (2014).
(Image)

CV. Starting Price 3,000

1884 Cover to Norway, Straits Settlements 8c yellow orange with "B" overprint (Scott 17; SG 20) tied on cover by light strike of Bangkok OC 1884 British PO cancel, light red Singapore transit below and a black Christiania receiver on face, sender's handstamp lower left, two approx 23mm disinfection slits - one at each edge of the cover, cover with bit of edge wear and some light toning spots, a Fine and rare cover to a desirable destination. (Image 2) (Image)

CV. Starting Price 1,500

19d, 1891 ½d on 1d Claret, Unsevered pair, straight-edge top and left with small portion of a surcharge from the adjacent stamp to the left, part o.g., small bits of h.r., fresh and Fine; 1936 BPA certificate (Scott $3,750; SG 13a, £3,750) (Image)

CV. Starting Price 1,000

19Ef, 1891 ½d on 1d Orange red brown, Unsevered pair, rich color, o.g., Fine and rare; 1972 RPS certificate (as SG 40a) (Scott $4,500; SG 14a, £4,750) (Image)

CV. Starting Price 2,000

1841 “Turned Cover” to and from Norwich and Scotow with Plate 6 “Penny Black” Franking, 1840 1d intense black, plate 6, EJ, large margins, tied by red Maltese Cross to pre-printed addressed entire with printed Church Diocese questionaire inside dispatched from 'NORWICH JA 4 1841', handstamped "Too Late" on reverse, "To the Minister of Belangh with Scottow, Norf.". Later the filled out printed questionaire with pre-printed addressee for return "To The Lord Bishop of Norwich", was turned, the already pre-franked 1840 1d intense black, plate 6, HE, large margins, cancelled by red Maltese Cross and dispatched from SCOTTOW (undated handstamp on reverse) to Norwich with arrival datestamp 'FE 4 1841' on reverse. A very unusual turned pre-printed Church Diocese questionaire form signed "Edwd Norwich" (Edward Stanley 1779-1849, Bishop of Norwich between 1837 and 1849) to check whether the incumbent (residing) Vicar John Lubbock (1800-1857) uses the Church property in Scottow and Belangh, which he does in both villages he acts as Vicar for. The two 1840, 1d. blacks from plate 6 were presumadly affixed by the sender and may originate from the same Post Office sheet.; 2014Karl Louis BPP cert. states: "Very few such questionaires with preprinted addressee 'To The Lord Bishop 01 Norwich' are known, but only one other such questionaire preserved as a complete 'turned entire' showing both pre-printed addressees 'To the Minister of ... ' and 'To The Lord Bishop of ... ' is recorded by me to date. " (Image 2) (Image 3) (Image)

CV. Starting Price 1,000

2, 1840 2d Blue, Plate 2, pair, IA-IB, lovely color, ample to wide margins including sliver of adjacent stamp at the right, lightly cancelled, Very Fine and choice (SG £2,000) (Image 2) (Image)

CV. Starting Price 900

1865 Cover Manchester to Alexandria, Egypt via Trieste, 1862/64 4d vermilion hairlines, 1865 6d lilac pl. 5 (both with faults; Scott 34c, 45; SG 82, 97) tied by black «498» obliterators with a red «MANCHESTER / PAID 15 MY 65» cds at left, red circular framed «PD» denoting full payment, blue «AUS ENGLAND PER AACHEN / FRANCO 17/5» transit cancel, ms. «Via Trieste», from Trieste (May 19) mailed in error via Kerkyra (Corfu, May 10 Julian calendar) to Alexandria and not directly sent and thus taxed on arrival with «110» lepta (ms., the amount due for the Corfu-Alexandria leg of the journey) being paid by Greek 10L orange on blued (3) and 80L carmine (Scott 19, 22) all tied by «ALEXANDRIA / (TURKEY)» May 21 (Julian calendar) cancels, light cover crease across top affects one of the Greek 10L and the 80L, a most attractive and rare «well-travelled» cover; signed Calves and Tseriotis plus the latter»s 2007 certificate (Image 2) (Image)

CV. Starting Price 9,000

Royal Household Mail, 1870 Mourning Cover Addressed in Hand of Queen Victoria, 1841 2d blue, plate 4, MA, mainly large margins (just cut into at bottom left), centrally cancelled by small "POR/S.C" in star (Portsmouth Sorting Carriage) used on mourning envelope from Osborne House (crest on flap) addressed in Queen Victorias' own handwriting to "Miss Murray MacGregor, Hampton Court, Kingston on Thames" with arrival datestamp "DE 30 1870"; a very late use of the 1841/53 2d imperf and despite a single off-cover (ex Grant collection 2003) that proves that the late use of the 2d imperfs on (Royal?) Mail from the Isle of Wight or Portsmouth, an unique usage of the "POR/S.C" handstamp cancelling the 2d imperf on cover; possibly the most important philatelic cover from Queen Victoria in private hand; 2016 K Louis BPP certificate
Queen Victoria and Miss Murray MacGregor had earlier become friends through their literary interests, the lady helping to correct the Queens "Leaves from the Journal of our Life in the Highlands".
It is believed that mail from Queen Victoria or her immediate circle of family and friends received special consideration to avoid postal delay when visiting at her Royal Residence Osborne house on the the Isle of Wight.
The Murray MacGregor family were given residence at Hampton Court Palace by Queen Victoria in 1851, when Sir John Atholl Bannatyne Murray MacGregor, then Lieutenant-Governor of the Virgin Islands died at Tortola in the West Indies.
Provenance and reference: A.G. Brewer collection (1976), Gibbons Stamp Monthly magazine, May 1976, Heinz Reck collection (1980s), Spink auction (Dec 1998) "Symphony in Blue" collection (1999 - 2016). (Image 2) (Image)

CV. Starting Price 1,500

A3, 1852 ½a Scarlet “Scinde District Dawk”, circular embossed wax seal with excellent embossing and none of the usual edge or cracking damage, tied to a small piece by light strike of diamond dots lozenge cancel in black and mounted on another carrier paper, Extremely Fine and choice; an exceptional example of this rare and famous stamp; illustrated in «Edition D»Or» No XX, pg 238; 2016 BPA certificate (Scott $26,000; SG S3, £25,000) (Image)

CV. Starting Price 20,000

India Used in Labuan; 1865 Cover Front to England via Sarawak, From the Bishop of Labuan (endorsed «F.J.Labuan» lower left) and addressed to London, franked with India 1856/64 4a black horizontal pair tied in transit by black «B/172» numeral handstamps of Singapore, red ms. «11», a fine strike of the rare «POST OFFICE / SARAWAK» circular handstamp in black with ms. «17/1/65» inserted (the latest recorded date of use of this handstamp), red London / Paid MR 7 65 arrival cancel on face, a major rarity of Asian postal history
Note: Carried on the P&O S.S. Carnatic leaving Singapore Jan 21, 1865 arriving Galle (Ceylon) on January 27, transhipped to S. S. Bengal on February 1, arriving Suez on February 15. Overland to Alexandria and carried on the S. S. Syria arriving Southampton March 7, 1865. (Image)

CV. Starting Price 2,000

1, 1855 1d Deep carmine red, London printing, especially well margined and with beautiful color, postally used with manuscript cancel, Very Fine and choice example; the Chalon issues of New Zealand (unlike those of other countries such as Tasmania) were almost never used for fiscal purposes; 2015 Odenweller certificate (SG 1, Campbell Patterson A1a) (Image 2) (Image)

CV. Starting Price 7,500

3, 1855 1sh Pale yellow green, lightly cancelled, just clear to full margins, a Fine sound example; 1978 RPS certificate (Scott $6,000; SG 3, £5,500; CP A6a, NZ$12,000) (Image 2) (Image)

CV. Starting Price 2,500

Campbell Paterson E18c, 1903(?) 1sh Orange red, Perf 11 "Abnormal" on paper of pre-1898 type, well centered with rich color, partially struck cancel, corner crease upper left, otherwise Very Fine and quite rare with only a few copies known; no official explanation has been put forward on the how and why this stamp was printed on a paper with 7mm space between the "NZ" and "Star" of watermark used for late issues of the QV sideface issues (Image 2) (Image)

CV. Starting Price 1,000

AR62, 1937 35sh Yellow, wonderfully fresh and well centered, barest trace of hinging, choice Very Fine, the key value to the set (Scott $6,000; SG F161, £5,000) (Image)

CV. Starting Price 2,000

Campbell Paterson DP4e, 1893 2½d Blue, Perf 10, "O.P.S.O." overprint in violet, Dodgsun's advert (3d setting) in mauve on back, partial cds, a light corner crease does not detract, Fine and scarce; 2016 RPSNZ certificate (Image 2) (Image)

CV. Starting Price 1,000

1899 ½d Black, Perf 11, "O.P.S.O." Overprint in violet, weak impression of the handstamp on single with light cancel, some clipped perfs at left and bottom left (not mentioned in cert.), still a Fine example not listed in SG or CP; 2016 RPSNZ certificate (Image 2) (Image)

CV. Starting Price 3,000

SG O25a, 1902 ½d Green, Cowan paper, Perf 14, "O.P.S.O." Overprint in rose-magenta, blurred impression of the handstamp on a nicely centered single with portion of town cancel, usual rough perfs, small corner crease bottom right, still Very Fine and rare; 2016 RPSNZ certificate (Scott O17 var; CP FP4b) (Image 2) (Image)

CV. Starting Price 1,500