360 / Mai 2015 London

1851/60, 1 d. red-brown, nice deep colour and good to wide margins all around, unused without gum, very fine, certificate Greene (1996)

1851/60: 1 d. red brown on blued paper, a fine horizontal strip of three, ample to large margins all round and of good colour, used on small 1857 envelope to Bay of Ants, New Brunswick neatly cancelled by barred obliterator in black. Reverse with PICTOU / NS datestamp of despatch (June 13), 'Amherst / NS' cds (June 115), 'Sackville' cds, 'Bale-Verte / NB' cds (June 19) and faint arrival with date inserted in manuscript (June 19). A charming and scarce cover. Cert. BPA (1999). Provenance: Carnegie Institute; Koh Seow Chuan (April 1999) lot 180.

1851/60: 1 d. red-brown on blued and 3 d. blue on blued paper, four margined examples used on 1857 cover Sydney to North Sydney, Cape Breton; tied by barred obliterators in black. Reverse with 'Sydney / CBI' datestamp (Feb 22) and 'North Sydney / CB' arrival cds of the following day. A rare franking in very fine quality for these issues on letter. Cert. PF (1976).

1851/60: 1 d. red brown on blued, 3 d. bright blue and 6 d. deep green all used on delightful small 1860 envelope endorsed 'per Cunard Steamer' to Nice, Sardinia. The adhesives with excellent colour and large margins with just the 1 d. value being just shaved at left, tied by mute barrred grid handstamps in black and by 'London / Paid' transit cds (March 5) in red. Manuscript '1/1d.' at left and reverse with Halifax despatch cds (Feb 23) and 'Nizza Mara.' arrival cds (March 8) in black. A famous and very rare cover. Cert. RPS (2011). Note: This cover remains the sole known usage to continental Europe other than France - Sardinia returned Nice to France just 16 days after the arrival of this letter as a result of the Treaty of Turin (March 24, 1860). Provenance: Argenti, Mayer, Hackmey.

1 d. red-brown, 3 singles with 3 d. bright blue, all with mostly clear to wide margins, touched or slightly cut-into in places, used with grill cancels on small entire letter with clear dispatch mark "AMHERST OC 19 1860" to Wallace with faint arrival mark; one 1 d. tiny tear and the franking with slight creasing at top, otherwise fine and very attractive, a most likely unique franking of the double internal rate; certificate BPA (1999). Provenance: Gibson (1944) Koh Seow Chuan (1999) Joseph Hackmey

1 d. red-brown, vertical pair with long scissors cut between the stamps, the top stamp with clear to good margins, the bottom stamp cut-into at left, together with 6 d. yellow-green with good margins all around, tied by oval grill to envelope backstamped "HALIFAX OC 12 1854" to Forfar, Scotland with green arrival mark on reverse; adjacent "PKT. LETTER PAID LIVERPOOL"; a faint horizontal crease affecting the top 1 d., cover with some staining, otherwise fine; the only recorded cover that shows an overpayment of the 7½ d.-rate. Provenance: Joseph Hackmey

3 d. deep blue, 2 pairs and single stamp, one pair with large margins all around, the others partly slightly touched, tied by grill cancel to large part of folded quintuple-rate letter from Halifax 1855 to Richibucto, New Brunswick with dispatch and transit marks on reverse; inside with complete text: the sender enclosed 28 pounds in cash and 12 postage stamps equal to 3 shillings... "I have taken 5 stamps to prepay the postage"; filing creases partly repaired affecting one stamp; a very rare multiple franking. Provenance: John F. Seybold, Syracuse (1910) Nicholas Argenti (1963) Louise Boyd Dale and Alfred F. Lichtenstein (1968-70)

3 d. blue, 2 diagonal bisects in different shades, partly cut-into and one with 2 creases before it was used, tied by clear grill cancel to entire letter from "HALIFAX NOVA SCOTIA JY 3 1857" to Pictou with arrival mark of the next day; a fine and rare franking, only 3 such double bisect covers are known. Certificate BPA 1998, as postal fraud SG 2

6 d. olive-yellow, 5 singles, one with large margins all around, the others mostly good margins, just touched or slightly cut-into in places, all tied by grill "1" to double rate lettersheet to London with red "PAID"-marking on front, tying one stamp additionally; a very fine letter with remarkable franking, the largest known of the 6 pence value on cover; certificate BPA (1999). Provenance: Maurice Burrus (1962) 'Foxbridge' Collection (John du Pont, 1987) Koh Seow Chuan (1999) Warren Wilkinson (2011) Joseph Hackmey 

1851/60: 3 d. blue, a diagonally bisected example used as 1½ d., overlapping fine 6 d. yellow green on 1860 cover to London to pay the 7½ d. rate, the stamps cancelled by barred obliterator in black. Reverse with PICTOU / NS datestamp of depatch (Jan 24) and front with 'London / Paid' arrival cds (Feb 6) in red. A fine and very scarce usage. Handstamped Vincent Graves Greene. Cert. PF (1993) Scott 2a+5 = $ 3'750 / Gi. 2'500+.

6 d. yellow-green, 2 single copies with clear to wide margins (one with tiny nick just touching the design) tied by oval grill to double-rate registered envelope with manuscript "Registered" from "ANNAPOLIS N.S. AP 26 1858" to St. John, New Brunswick with arrival mark; one stamp with small corner crease at top right; part of the reverse flap missing and slight usual edgewear; a rare letter, certificate Philatelic Foundation (2004).

6 d. yellow-green in block of 3, one stamp slightly cut-into, otherwise clear to wide margins, one stamp with tiny tear and small scissor cut between two stamps, tied by grill cancel to large size quadruple-rate registered envelope with adjacent cds. "ANNAPOLIS JY 28 1858" to Bridgetown; vertical filing folds not affecting the stamps, some edgewear, still fine and rare. The only recorded cover with this rate and the highest franked domestic registered letter (mentioned in Argenti p. 111); certificate Philatelic Foundation (1973). Provenance: John F. Seybold, Syracuse (1910) Louise Boyd Dale and Alfred F. Lichtenstein (1968-70) Joseph Hackmey

6 d. yellow-green and 2 single copies 3 d. blue, all partly touched or slightly cut-into to mostly good margins, tied by grill cancel to double-rate registered envelope with manuscript register marking from "ALBION MINES AP ... 1859" to Halifax with frontside arrival mark of April 6; vertical filing fold through 6 d., otherwise fine; a rare franking and rate.

1851/60: 6 d. yellow-green, a diagonally bisected example with large margins on the remaining sides, used on 1857 entire letter from Halifax to Peggy's Cove, tied by barred obliterator in black. Reverse with Halifax despatch cds (Sept 5) and fine 'St. Margarets Bay' arrival (Sept 7). Trivial aging and file fold well away from the adhesive but a very rare entire. Cert. Graves Greene (1982) Scott 4a = $ 3'500 / Gi = £ 3'250.

6 d. yellow-green, quadrisected with part of adjoining stamp and ca. 12 mm sheet margin, tied by grill cancel to envelope, backstamped "BRIDGETOWN OC .. 1860", used locally with frontside notation "recd 29 Octr. 1860", very fine; only two quadrisects have been recorded in Nova Scotia Philately, used in 1860 as 2 c. at drop letter rate. One of the great rarities of British North America, certificate RPS (1969). Provenance: Louise Boyd Dale and Alfred F. Lichtenstein (1968-70) Cartier Joseph Hackmey

6 d. dark green in pair with single 3 d. tied by grill cancel to cover front with top backflap to Yorkshire, England; one 6 d. stamp with small faults. The only recorded example of the 15 pence letter rate to England, effective 6.7.1851 - 31.7.1854. Provenance: Joseph Hackmey

6 d. dark green, diagonal bisect, just touched in the corner tip, otherwise large margins, tied by oval grill to lettersheet from "HALIFAX MY 6 1860" to Dorchester, New Brunswick; slight paperbreaks in the cover folds, otherwise fine and attractive; certificate Friedl Expert Committee (1978)   Provenance: Wilkinson (2011), Joseph Hackmey

1 shilling cold violet in horizontal pair together with pair 3 d. deep blue, both large margins to cut into, tied by clear grill to small envelope from "SYDNEY CB NO 20 1852" to a member of the 32nd regiment at Peshawar, India, showing on front red London "PAID 21 DE 1852" and manuscript "1/10"; a marvellous and rare cover, only 5 from Nova Scotia have been recorded, this one being the only with this franking; certificate BPA (1984). Provenance: Robert A. Siegel (private collection) Koh Seow Chuan (1999) Joseph Hackmey

1860/63: 10 c. vermilion, a diagonally bisected example used on small 1861 cover to pay the 5 cent rate, endorsed 'On Service' to Dorchester, New Brunswick; tied by barred obliterator in black. Reverse with 'Dorchester' arrival cds (Dec 14) in black. A scarce and attractive cover. Cert. RPS (1953) Scott = $ 1'200 / Gi. = £ 750.

1851/60: The Postal History collection of cover/entires (21) with 1 d. red-brown in a strip of three on 1855 entire (signed A. Diena), 3 d. blue single franking covers (9, one with cert. Greene), 3 d. blue covers with two examples paying 6 d. rate to USA (3), 3 d. blue bisected usages with two further 3 d. blue on covers to England at 7½ d. rate (2, one with cert. Friedl), further cover with bisected 3 d. and 6 d. deep green to England (cert. Bühler), 6 d. green single frankings on covers to the USA (3, one with cert. Bühler, another cert. Holcombe), 6 d. green (2 examples) used on entire to Nova Scotia and a 6 d. green bisected usage. Condition variable but an extraordinary lot of enormous catalogue value.