360 / Mai 2015 London

1781, Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount and Baron Nelson, Duke of Bronté, Vice Admiral of the White Squadron of the Fleet and Hero of Trafalgar; signature "Horatio Nelson" ( with his right hand) on part of a document, counter-signed by his eldest brother William Nelson and his sisters Susanne Bolton and Ann Nelson; a rare document of Nelson's time in Britain in 1781, recovering from a feaver caught during the expedition in Costa Rica, ex Patrick Pearson

1789, complete 2 page letter signed "Horatio Nelson", written "Burnham Jan.y 24th 1789" to the merchants Wilkinson & Higgins in Antigua, Leeward Islands, endorsed "Navy Office 1/-", prepaid with 2 sh., being marked on the front in red manuscript with adjacent handstamped "POST PAID"; on reverse London transit date stamp of 4.2.1789. He is writing in reply to a letter of 9 October 1788 and concludes 'In this Country I am not in Office and so much retired from the busy scenes of power that although I have every inclination yet it is not in my power of doing more than representing your situation which I have and always will do to all Public Boards and my belief in your ability and determination to lay all the frauds open'. A rare and remarkable document Provenance: Patrick Pearson

1805, signature "Nelson & Bronte" (with his left hand, after losing his right one in the action off Tenerife in 1797) on free letter front to Cambridge. Nelson had only returned to England on August 17, after chasing Admiral Villeneuve and the French fleet to the West Indies and back. Within a few days of writing this letter he was summoned from his home at Merton, rejoining H.M.S. Victory at Portsmouth on September 15, from where she sailed to Cadiz and the Battle of Trafalgar Provenance: Patrick Pearson

1839, "4" (d.), clear strike on front of unpaid entire letter, backstamped "NORWICH DE 20 1839" to Uttoxeter; a very fine and rare letter with a hand-struck "4"; of Norwich only 3 entires are recorded, one being in the Fletcher collection in the British Library Provenance: Patrick Pearson

1840, "4", manuscript marking on front of doubel.-rate unpaid entire letter of January 11, 1840, the second day of uniform 1 d. post, backstamped "STOKE-FERRY" to Wymondham; a scarce item from the 2nd day of uniform Penny-Post, ex Patrick Pearson

1840, Mulready Lettersheet 1 d. black used with clear red Maltese Cross and showing on reverse clear dispatch mark "BATH MY 6 1840" (beautiful upright strike when upper flap opened for display), addressed to Great Campden House in Kensington. A beautiful and very fine Mulready of the first day of issue, certificate K.-A. Louis BPP (2013) Note: The address 'Campden House, Kensington' was reknown as 'Queen Anne's Palace' since Anne, Princess of Denmark, resided with her son, William Duke of Gloucester in Campden House from 1692 for some years. Later Campden House was used as a boarding school for ladies until it was almost entirely destroyed by a fire on March 23, 1862 Provenance: 'Yates' Collection (Robson Lowe 1949) 'Minimus' Collection (Robson Lowe 1980)

1840, Mulready envelope 1 d. black, stereo 'A182', backstamped "NORWICH MY 6 1840" and straight line "too late", addressed to Stalham Hall, showing on front good strike of red MC; some minor creasing; a very fine cover from the first official day of use; certificate RPS (1995) Provenance: Vivien Sussex, Patrick Pearson

1840, 1d. black, plate 1A, lettered LL, tied by red Maltese Cross to entire used on the First day of Issue, dated inside "London May 6th. 1840” in manuscript with matching London Chief Office evening duty datestamp on reverse "B / MY - 6 / 1840 in red (Code letter 'B’ is known to be used on May 6, 1840, but partly oxidised as can usually be seen on the few known impressions). The adhesive with repaired defect in the lower left corner, entire and stamp are cleaned, the addressee’s name was erased and is re-written. The letter inside shows deleted parts, while the senders ms. date "London May 6th. 1840” is original. Karl Louis BPP cert. (2013) and Mike Jackson A.I.E.P. cert (2014) confirming the 6 May datestamp being oxidised but not enhanced, while BPA cert. (2013) states 'genuine ... backstamp enhanced’ (but not mentioning oxidation). Despite restored faults an interesting First Day cover showing a neat strike of the London 6 May 1840 datestamp and by the sender’s manuscript 6 May 1840 heading inside. Reference: 1999, 'May Dates’ by Mike Jackson Provenance: Charles Nissen Stock (Stanley Gibbons auction 28/29 Sept. 1978). Charles

1d. black plate 4, DJ, three large margins, just shaved at right, tied by red Maltese Cross to entire letter from ‚BIRMINGHAM  NO 11  1840« to Aix La Chapelle, Rhenish Prussia. The letter was forwarded to London, but handstamped ‚Returned for .....Postage« in red by the London Foreign Branch Office and returned to Birmingham to collect ‚1/10« (1s.10d.) from the sender. The postage was then collected and the cover was marked by a ‚PAID 14 NO 1840« handstamp. The adhesive is tied by two Maltese Crosses in slightly different shades of red to the cover, the second strike may have been applied either in London at the Foreign Branch or in Birmingham when the missing postage had been collected. A very rare usage of a 1840, 1d. black on foreign destination cover, especially ‚from beyond London«. According to the Karl Louis Card Index Register, this cover is the only genuine cover bearing a Penny Black to Prussia (another cover to Neuwied having first been seen on the Market in June 2008 is at least ‚questionable«). Karl Louis BPP certificate (2008)

1840: 2 d. blue, Plate 1, a superb horizontal pair lettered IB-IC, with huge margins all round and with portion of adjoining stamp at right, used on 1840 cover to Ripon and tied by two strikes of the red Maltese Cross. Reverse with 'Leyburn / Penny Post' in black and 'Bedale' datestamp (Oct 25) in black. A superb and most attractive cover. Signed Van Dieten, Calves. Provenance: Corinphila sale 64 (June 1981), lot 738.

1841, 1 d. red-brown, plate 28, clear to very wide margins, tied by good strike of Norwich Maltese Cross, so-called 'Number in centre' type to envelope, backstamped "NORWICH AP 4 1843" to Basingstoke with arrival mark on front; fine and scarce, certificate RPS (1994) Provenance: Patrick Pearson

1854: 1 d. red-brown on blued paper, 2 d. deep blue in horizontal pair, both wmk. Small Crown, perf. 16; used in combination with Embossed 1847/54 10 d. brown and 1 s. deep green on attractive 1854 entire letter to Vera Cruz, Mexico tied by fine strikes of '48' numeral obliterators of Ballymoney, Ireland in black. Reverse with Ballymoney despatch cds in red (June 13) and London transit in red. Central file fold touches one 2 d. adhesive but a very rare make up of the 2/3d. single rate. A rare and most attractive entire.

1864/80, 1d. rose red, plate numbers 71-225 (excl. pl.77), the fine specialized collection an album pages neatly written up for exhibition, including all plates mint (plate 225, QI, provenance: Harmers auction 27 Oct.1976, lot 1323), each plate represented by at least one cover (pl.225 vertical pair KK-LK used with 1870, ½d. on nvelope to New York, pl.225 is very rare on foreign destination cover!), 23  Imprimaturs from various plates including pl.223, varieties including 66 stamps with inverted watermarks, imperforate with plate 148 mint o.g. with Philatelic Foundation cert. (1962), plates 146, 198 and 207 ovpt. SPECIMEN, various protective underprints, mint multiples including pl. 96 blocks of 16 QI-TL (lower right corner marginal block with pl. no.), and OB-RF block of 20, pl.102, EG-KL right hand marginal block of 42 howing dividing star, pl.122, NJ-SL  block of 18,  pl. 143, AA-BF corner marginal plate no block of 12, plate 191, KG-NJ, block of  16, pl. 214, SA-TD corner marginal pl. no. block 8,used blocks incl. pl. 138, DD-GF block of 12 with neat CHESTER MY 9 72 cds., also included several covers with mixed plates/ mixed issues frankings (incl. pl. 208 used with Surface printed 1880, 1d. venetian, foreign destinations (incl. Ionian Islands), various printed matters to foreign destinations (incl. Egypt!), pl. 03 on «Fun Magazine», pl. 118 on Punch Magazine, pl. 95 on Sun Fire Office printed letter, pl.96 on printed Telegram (!), pl. 143 on neatly executed and decorative gold rinted Lady»s envelope, some better cancellations incl. More to pay, H&K Packet,  Brunswick stars, Sorting Tender, the collection is housed in 5 volumes, some slight oxidation as usual, otherwise the condition is generally good to very fine with many choise items.  

Protective Underprints: NAYLOR, BENZON & CO, LONDON, protective underprint in black on 1864, 1d red plate 148, GK, (Late Fee) and 1867, 3d. rose plate 6, horizontal wing marginal pair RG-RH (usual slightly irregular perforations), tied by 'LONDON 18 JY 71  -  '9’ " duplex cancellation to lettersheet showing ms. senders marking 'Naylor, Benzon & Co’ inside, addressed to Gefle, Sweden. Protective underprints on Surface printed issues are rare, on cover they are among the rarest varieties existing of the Victorian period. One of only two covers recorded in the Karl Louis Card Index Register of Naylor, Benzon & Co protective underprint. As most users of private protective underprints, they later went on to use perfins.  A letter communication with Stanley Gibbons Publications is attached confirming the addition of the 3d. plate 6 in the following GB Specialised Cat., 12th. edition, as this plate was not recorded before. (S.G. Spec. PP143, PP144) Note: Naylor, Benzon &Co were metal merchants in London. In the 20th century they had become a major mining company

1858/69: 2 d. blue, plate 13, an outstanding block of 23, lettered GH-GL/HG-HL/IG-IL/JG-JL, with all stamps cancelled by single ring WEDNESBURY datestamps (Oct 2, 1871) in black. A few negligible blunt perforations mentioned for complete accuracy and some perforations split, but a remarkable and extremely rare multiple, almost certainly one of the largest extant. Provenance: 'Victoria' (1975).

1854: Embossed 6 d. purple used with 1856 4 d. carmine on blued paper, tied to 1856 entire letter to Turin by London 1'5' obliterators in black. Oval 'PD' alongside and Calais transit (June 1) on front, reverse with Turin arrival cds. A charming entire in fine quality.

1867 (July 1): 5 s. rose, Plate 1, wmk. Maltese Cross, a magnificent used block of eight (2 x 4), each pair cancelled by complete strike of the GLASGOW / 159 duplex (Jan 31, 1872) in black. Minor bend on fifth stamp mentioned for full accuracy only and not detracting from the beauty of an exceptional and extremely rare multiple for the connoisseur Gi J121 = £ 8'800.

1873/89: 6 d. grey, plate 16, wmk. Spray of Rose, the marvellous mint interpanneau block of 12, lettered OE-OH / QE-QH, of bright fresh colour and margin with full inscription 'Price per label...', negligible folds in interpanneau margin only and trivial blunting of perforations of no significance, the stamps very fresh and fine with large part and eleven stamps unmounted og. A wonderful and extremely rare block, the sole recorded interpanneau block from this plate. A spectacular showpiece. Cert. BPA (1983) Gi J86 = £ 9'000 (as three blocks of four). Note: The sheets of 240 were divided prior to their delivery to Post Offices in panes of 20 or 40 (2 x 20). Therefore interpanneau multiples are amongst the rarest multiples of the Victorian Surface Printed Issues, with only a handful recorded from any issue between 1855 and 1880, when the Crown watermark paper was introduced. Provenance: Robson Lowe (Feb 1957), lot 302 as a block of sixteen; 'Layton' (1995), lot 1340.

1884: 5 s. rose on white paper, wmk. Anchor, a used block of ten (5 x 2), lettered MA / NE, of fine fresh colour, each stamp individually cancelled by QUEEN'S SQUARE / BELFAST  (March 5, 1898) datestamps in black. A few blunted or split perforations on no significance. A rare and most unusual multiple of stunning appearance Gi K12 = £ 3'750. Provenance: 'Grant' (Sept 2003), lot 2360.

1891: £ 1 green, a vertical strip of five, lettered LB / PB, of fine fresh colour, all cancelled by oval REGISTERED / GRACECHURCH ST datestamps (Nov 13, 1892) in black. A rare and most impressive multiple of this scarce stamp Gi = £ 4'000.

1840: 'VR Official' 1 d. black, Imprimatur lettered RI, one of just 33 examples removed from the first registration sheet (before hardening of the Plate), of rich colour and large even margins all round, without gum. An outstanding and very rare stamp in superb quality. Cert. Holcombe (1988), BPA (2015) Gi = £ 35'000. Proveance: Maurice Burrus (Oct 1963), lot 565.  

1840, VR Official 1 d. black, lettered K.K., full to large margins all round and of fresh colour, unused without gum; a very fine example of this rarity, not being from the Dublin Sheet ex Crawford, Certificate RPS (1968) Provenance: Auction H.R. Harmer (1935) Auction Robson Lowe (1952)

1840 (April/May): 'VR Official', 1 d. black, a used example lettered OJ, with good to large margins all round, utilised (by Rowland Hill) for canccellation Trials, cancelled by a Trial strike of the Maltese Cross cancellation in black. After the stamp was cancelled, an attempt has been made to remove the cancellation, fortunately with little success. A splendid and extremely rare stamp in wonderful quality for such a rarity. Signed Holcombe. Certs. Holcombe (1989), BPA (2015) Gi = £ 35'000.

1882/1901: I.R. Official 1 s. green & carmine, fresh mint example of excellent centering and bright colour, minute crack below first perf. at upper left corner, otherwise an exceptional example of this rare stamp, with large part original gum. Signed Holcombe. Certs. Holcombe (1993), BPA (2015) Gi = £ 4'200.

1902 (April 29): 'I. R. Official' 10 s. ultramarine, unused example of excellent centering, from the famous block of nine stamps found in a small leather jewel box in 1947 (photo of the original block with the lot, this being the third stamp in the lower row) and illustrated in the 'The British Philatelist' in June 1947. The Karl Louis index lists a total of 32 examples, of which a pair is in the Royal Collection, a block of four in the National Collection of Ireland (donated by the Duke of Leinster in 1894) and a single example in the Evans collection in the City Museum & Art Gallery in Birmingham, with 5 in used condition. An extremely rare stamp, minor faults in common (incl. trace of vertical bend) with all of the stamps in the 1947 find. This particular example has not been offered on the philatelic market for 57 years, a rarity for the connoisseur. Cert. RPS (1955) Mi 62 = € 70'000/Scott O25 = $ 120'000/Gi. = £ 95'000. Provenance: Harmer Rooke (1947), Corinphila sale 45 (April 1958), lot 3842.

1941/43, extremely comprehensive collection with many rare items including Guernsey Michel Cat. No. 2aMU as vertical strip of three, Michel Cat. No. 2aU as block of 12 with complete imprint, never hinged, also a cover from "GRANVILLE" to Italy, also Jersey Michel Cat. No. 1yU with right sheet margin and as vertical from from the upper left sheet corner, Michel Cat. No. 1yUl pair with normal stamp, 1yUo block of four with two normal stamps, 1yUmw block of four with sheet margin, Michel Cat. No. 1P horizontal pair, Michel Cat. No. 2P two blocks of four in black on carton paper from the upper left resp. right sheet corner, Michel Cat. No. 3-8 complete sheets including gutter pairs and printing date, many "Epreuves des Luxes", Essays, "Half Size Essay", "Mise en Train" rare printing dates and many more special items, virtually everything is expertized with BPP certificate! 

Jersey: 1940, Swastika overprint ½d.-1 s., mint never hinged, very scarce as only 60 of each were printed, certificate Möhle BPP GB 198, 200-208, 210-11

OTTOMAN POST OFFICES: 1868, 20 pa. green horizontal pair, tied by double-ringed arabic "SCUTARI" (Coles & Walker fig. 3) to folded lettersheet via Triest to Venezia, upon arrival taxed with Italy postage due 1869 10 c. and 1870 60 c., 60 c. postage due small corner fault, address partly erased, otherwise fine, rare.

1935/43, 1 p. slate without control number on reverse, imperforated block of 40, unused, as usual without gum, a very rare multiple, certificate Comex (2015); Edifil 41s; € 120.000,-, Scott 34A var.

1879: Double eagle definitives, lithography 10 kr. dark-blue, 15 kr. brown, 20 kr. olive green (corner wear), and 25 kr. lilac in diff. perfs., fresh colour, normal line perf., tied by neat "K. UND K. MILIT. POST XIV BIHAC 13/3/93" to registered envelope (vert. fold), sent to Birmingham with Austrian "RECOM." mark and British arrival handstamp in red (18 MR 93) alongside. Early use of the 20 Kr. definitive, an attractive four colour franking of the highest lithographed values. Signed Ferchenbauer, cert. Puschmann (2014) Ferchenbauer = € 6'250+.

1893: Double eagle definitive, lithography 20 kr. olive green, perf. 11½, fresh colour, normal perf. (corner wear), tied by neat "K. UND K. MILIT.FILIAL-POST SARAJEVO 27/5/93" to registered envelope, sent to Vienna with "R Nr. 393" registration mark alongside. Signed Ferchenbauer, cert. Soecknick (2008) Ferchenbauer = € 2'750.

"Lado 1.8.07" , manuscript cancellation with signature on Belgium Congo postal stationery card 15 c., endorsed "Via Karthum", with additional Retta cancel and adjacent "WHITE NILE T.P. 31.VII.1907" to Bruxelles with arrival mark on front; very fine and rare

1864/70, Coat of Arms 2 skilling blue and 2 copies 16 skilling olive-green in combination with 1870/71, 4 skilling grey/red with line perforation 12½, tied by numeral "44" to small envelope with adjacent despatch mark "NESTVED 17/12" (1870) and endorsed "via Triest" to a crew member of the Danish fregate 'Tordenskjold' c/o the Danish consul at Hongkong, China. On reverse good strike "HONG KONG MARINE-SORTER SINGAPORE TO HONG-KONG" and German railway transit mark "WAMDRUP/FLENSBURG"; the entire somewhat toned, few short perfs and 2 skilling with tear at lower right. The rate of 38 skilling was equivalent to 9 groschen, consisting of 1 groschen Danish share, 1 groschen German/Austrian transit and 7 groschen postage beyond Triest. A very rare letter to China. Certiciate Möller (1998) (AFA no. 11A, 15, 18A) Note: The Danish 1,453 tons fregate 'Tordenskjold' armed with 60 canons was sold in 1871 to Asia and was later used as a trade vessel. She was lost in the Atlantic in 1892. Provenance: Dr. Gene Scott (2000)

1980, EUROPA CEPT 150 oyru and 200 oyru, the unissued bi-coloured values in complete sheets of 20 stamps, 150 oyru with erased pencil notations in the margins and one pos. 15 indicating a plate flaw to be removed; both unmounted mint in fresh original condition. These two sheets originate from the posession of the agent, who later arranged the reprint of the issue in Switzerland and were never part of the bulk of the unissued stamps which were ordered to be burnt in Torshavn in March 1981. These sheets can be considered as one of the greatest rarities of EUROPA CEPT and modern Skandinavian Philately. Each sheet with certificate Moeller BPP (2014) and also a letter by Svanbjörg Manai, Director of Faroe Islands Post, stating that due to the status of these sheets, Faroe Islands Post will not act against this sale but THESE WILL BE THE ONLY SHEETS OF THIS KIND THAT THEY WILL LET GO IN THE MARKET. Note: The Faroe Islands Postal Administration ordered production of the 1980 EUROPA CEPT issue from a printer in Finland. The printers delivered the entire quantity ordered by the Administration. Only then qualitiy control of the Postal Administration detected quality restrictions of both the printing quality and the gumming of the stamps. The authorities decided to destroy the entire quantity printed by burning the stamps. The fire was started in March of 1981 but wind blew a small number of stamps away. A very limited number of these stamps found their way into the stamp market and turned up at auctions. The Postal Administration successfully claimed the ownership of these stamps. In all cases where the Faroe Postal Administration became aware of the existance of the stamps in the market these were confiscated worldwide and returned to the Postal Administration. The stamps offered today were never in the Torshavn fire. This is clearly described in the certificates of Carl Aage Moeller, BPP.

5 penni carmine-brown on pale lilac laid paper, the famous horizontal tête-bêche pair (positions 22-21) used on 1869 entire letter in combination with 5 p. carmine-brown horizontal pair (positions 23-24) and single 20 p. bright blue to Kristinestad, all Type III roulettes, tied by five 'Helsingfors' datestamps (26/7) in black. The tête-bêche pair with one slightly short tooth at upper left of no significance and minute closed tear in the 20 p., however of stunning appearance, with boxed 'Ank' arrival marking (29/7) at right. The manuscript annotation '1½' has been ignored and the cover is correctly rated for an internal long distance letter (over 200 versts / 220 kms.) at 40 penni. The cover was originally found in an old family archive in Vassa and was initially acquired privately by Chr. Sundman and later sold by him through Corinphila in April, 2003. The major highlight of the Finland Rouletted Issue, with just seven tête-bêche pairs known and unique on cover. An item of great beauty in near immaculate condition, a World Philatelic Rarity. Cert. Tuori (2003), RPS (2008) Scott 12e = without price/Facit = without price. Provenance: 'Sibelius' (Sundman), Corinphila sale 135 (April 2003), lot 1169; Bill Gross (May 2008), lot 1036.

1856, 10 kop. carmine-red on wove paper, horizontal pair with good to large margins, nice fresh colour, both stamps with pen cross and tied by clear central "HELSINGFORS 19/3 1859" to small cover with adjacent red "Aus Russland Franco" to Tharand in Saxony with distribution mark and railway mark "KÖNIGSBERG Pr./ BROMBERG" on reverse; the left stamp of the pair with marginal crease just touching the frame and light marginal bend at bottom, where affixed at the edge of the cover. A fine cover with rare destination; certificate Schwenson (2009).