2017 Rarities of the World continued...

VERY FINE AND RARE EXAMPLE OF THE 1879 DOUBLE SURCHARGED 18-CENTS POSTAL CARD. A MAJOR HONG KONG RARITY ON COMPLETE CARD.

SG £9,000 (Image)

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VERY FINE. ONE OF THE KEY ERROR RARITIES OF LABUAN. ONLY ONE SHEET OF TEN STAMPS WAS PRINTED WITH THE INVERTED SURCHARGE.

Of the single sheet of ten, two stamps (forming a pair) reside in the Royal Collection.

With 1938 R.P.S. certificate. Ex Cassells and Sentosa. SG £12,000 (Image)

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VERY FINE. AN OUTSTANDING EXAMPLE OF THE EXTRAORDINARILY RARE LABUAN 1885 2-CENT ON 16-CENT DOUBLE SURCHARGE. ONE OF ONLY FOUR KNOWN, ALL OF WHICH ARE USED.

Two of the other known copies have perforations faults.

Ex Lahner. Illustrated in the Robson Lowe Encyclopedia (when it was in a pair with position 5). SG £7,000 (Image)

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FINE AND UNIQUE. THE ONLY RECORDED MULTIPLE OF THE RARE LABUAN 1891 6-CENT ON 40-CENT OCHER.

Ex Caspary and Bickly. With 2012 B.P.A. certificate. Catalogue values are as singles. SG £10,000 (Image)

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VERY FINE. AN EXTRAORDINARY PERKINS, BACON & CO. MASTER DIE PROOF OF THE BRITANNIA ISSUE WITH BLANK COUNTRY TABLET. ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT BRITISH COMMONWEALTH PROOFS AND A KEY TO AN AWARD-WINNING EXHIBITION. WE ARE AWARE OF ONLY ONE OTHER SIMILAR EXAMPLE.

The story of the Britannia design is fascinating, and was told by The Rev. C. S. Morton in the December 1924 Issue of The London Philatelist. In late 1847 it was first suggested that Mauritius should obtain stamps from the Colonial Agent in London. In early 1848 the Colonial Secretary wrote for the need for 10,000 stamps that could be easily distinguished from those used at the General Post Office in England.

In June 1848 the firm Perkins, Bacon & Co. responded to the inquiry, noting that letterpress, woodcut and lithography were all inexpensive printing methods but were susceptible to forgery. The cost to prepare engraved dies and plates with different denominations would be very high for such a small quantity. It was proposed that the same design could be printed in different colors to distinguish between different rates, which would lower costs. Earl Gray noted on the Perkins Bacon letter ”Might not the same stamps be made to do for Trinidad?” The design was issued in three colors for Mauritius and two colors for Trinidad. Barbados would use the same design three years later.

The artist Edward Henry Courbold was selected to provide a watercolor of the design that had been suggested and approved. This watercolor and a master die proof similar to the one offered here are part of The Royal Collection. Two additional master die proofs are also known. The other was offered in the 1993 Kanai Mauritius sale. They can be distinguished from the die proofs with the country names inserted because the die sinkage area is noticeably larger on the master die proofs. (Image)

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VERY FINE. AN EXCEEDINGLY RARE SHEET OF THE 1861 6-PENCE GRAY LILAC ON GRAYISH PAPER.

It should be noted that the Scott Catalogue value for this issue is without gum. Original-gum stamps are quite scarce, and the five Mint N.H. examples in this sheets are truly rare.

Ex Ferrary and Avery. Illustrated in Melville and Borromeo & Freeland (Image)

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VERY FINE. AN EXTRAORDINARY AND LIKELY UNIQUE SET OF SURCHARGE MARK VALUES FROM THE LATE SETTING ON ONE PIECE. ONE OF THE GREAT SHOWPIECE RARITIES OF NEW BRITAIN.

The surcharge on these four stamps was applied by the same device, with the value changed as needed. They all show identical flaws in the "R".

With 2015 B.P.A. certificate. SG £33,500 (Image)

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VERY FINE AND CHOICE. AN IMPRESSIVE EXAMPLE OF THE 1914 ONE-SHILLING SURCHARGE ON THE ONE-MARK MARSHALL ISLANDS STAMP. ONLY 85 WERE ISSUED.

With 1987 R.P.S. certificate. SG £4,000 (Image)

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VERY FINE. A DESIRABLE AND EXCEEDINGLY RARE NEWFOUNDLAND AIR POST ISSUE. ONLY 95 STAMPS WERE USED AND FEWER STILL ARE KNOWN ON FLIGHT COVERs.

This flight famously ended with a controlled crash landing in the ocean after about 13 hours of flying. Postmaster J. A. Robinson of St. John's overprinted 200 stamps for the special flight. No more than 87 unused stamps can still exist, though the actual number of surviving copies is probably quite lower. In addition to these, 95 were used and 18 were defective and subsequently destroyed.

With 1971 B.P.A. (not mentioning stamp being lifted) and 1983 E. Diena certificate. Unitrade C$35,000.00 (Image)

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VERY FINE. AN IMPORTANT NEWFOUNDLAND AIR POST RARITY. ONLY 225 DE PINEDO STAMPS WERE USED ON FLIGHT COVERS, OF WHICH ONLY ABOUT 100 HAVE SURVIVED.

Signed Kessler. With 1984 Rendon and 1997 Greene Foundation certificates. Unitrade C$30,000.00 (Image)

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