360 / Mai 2015 London

1863/80, watermark crown "CC" 1 d. carmine, 3 copies, and 4 d. grey, tied by clear "TRINIDAD AP 26 1874" to registered envelope to Surrey, endorsed "per German steamer", with adjacent red "TRINIDAD PAID", straight line "REGISTERED" and "REGISTERED LONDON" (two strikes, one on 1 d.); some creasing affecting the franking only minor; a scarce private ship letter rate registered letter; certificate BPA (2010)

1854, 6d. grey with superb large margins all round used with 1 s. vermilion, margin just nicked at top left on 1858 cover from Sydney to Genoa, Italy endorsed 'per Victoria via Marseilles', tied by dumb obliterators in black with reverse showing SYDNEY / NEW SOUTH WALES datestamp of despatch (April 9) in black. 'Australie v. Suez' entry marking in red on front (June 15) and Genova arrival (June 17) where charged 2 lire due.

1892/99, ½ d. slate, block of 3 and single tied by cds. "SHIPMAIL ROOM ..." to large size printed matter wrapper, originally sent from Germany, franked with 1889/1900, 25 pf. orange for the quintuple printed matter rate, to Sydney and from here re-directed to Auckland, New Zealand, some slight creasing; a remarkable and rare combination franking

1862/67, 6d. pale bluish green, imperforated single stamp with good to mostly enormeous margins with parts of 3 neighbour stamps and small sheet margin at top; lightly cancelled; a very fine and rare stamp; opinion Holcombe

1860/69, 2 d. bright vermilion, tied by clear cds. "ADELAIDE MY 29 66" to Newspaper wrapper "THE Australian News" via London, with red transit mark on front, to Leipzig in Saxony with arrival mark on reverse; a remarkable early printed matter to an unusual destination

1860 (Jan): 'Riverina' Combination Covers (2) from Moama, New South Wales via Echuca, Victoria on the Murray River to Huddersfield, UK both carried on the same ship to England, one franked by New South Wales 1854/59 Diadem 1 s. pale brownish red tied by rare MOAMA barred numeral '137' in black used in combination with Victoria 6 d. deep blue (2), each cancelled by manuscript pen cross. Reverse with Melbourne transit cds (Jan 17) and Huddersfield arrival (March 12) - ex Trevor Davis and Dr Ed Druce. Coupled with a registered 1860 cover from the same correspondence franked by New South Wales 1854/59 Diadem 1 s. pale brownish red and tied by rare MOAMA barred numeral '137' in black and Registration 1856/59 (-) orange & prussian blue similarly tied; again used in combination with Victoria 6 d. deep blue (2), which are tied by aging and the slight ink spots apparent on face. Transit of REGISTERED / MELBOURNE in red (Jan 17), reverse with MOAMA despatch cds of the previous day and Huddersfield arrival (March 12) in black. The registered cover with corner missing at upper right and with faults, but a dramatic and rare pair of combination covers. Cert. BPA (2009). Provenance: Baetgen (March 1994), lot 2724.  

1879, Black Swan wm. CC: 2d., the 'error of colour' mauve instead of yellow, nice fresh colour, unused with large part of fresh original gum, very fine; an attractive showpiece and one of the rarest errors of the Australian States, most of the unused examples of this error are without gum and originated from a half sheet of 60 acquired by Stanley Gibbons, a few original gum examples came from (presumably) the other half sheet from which all of the used examples emanated, certificate RPS (1977)

1874, 'THREE PENCE' on 1 d. rose-red, nice fresh colour and typically slightly off centre to the left, unused o.g.; a fine copy of this extremely rare stamp, certificate RPS (2013) SG £ 18.000,-

THREE PENCE' on 1 Sh. green, overprint type 6 with 'P' and 'R' different, unused (large) part o.g., fine and scarce, certificate BPA (2015)

1852, Waterlow 1 c. black on magenta, deep nice colour and large margins, cancelled by almost central "DEMERARA MY 7 1852"; faint creasing and (invisible) pin holes; very attractive and rare in this condition; certificate RPS (2013)

1915, Coronation issue 2 kr. carmine, slate and silver (type 2, setting IV) with regular issue 2 ch. (type 4, setting I), tied by cds. "BOUCHIR (DEPART) 12.IX.15" to envelope to Shiraz with green British censor label, fine and scarce, certificate Holcombe (1986)

1860: 2½ d. deep reddish rose, perf. 14 used on small envelope addressed to 'The Camp, Westminste'r; tied by unclear numeral '3' of Hope in brownish ink. Reverse with label 'This P. O'Reilly cover has about the pinkest 2½ d. I ever saw, a very pretty shade. H.C.Hitt' and manuscript notation 'Harmer Rooke & Co, March 1942'. A very rare stamp on letter Scott 2 = $ 1'250 / Gi. = £ 1'800.

1851, laid paper:  Beaver 3 d. red, fine example, slightly oxidised with ample to large margins, used on 1852 Money Letter to Cayuga lightly tied in black. 'Toronto / Canada' despatch cds at left (April 1) and two strikes of straight line MONEY LETTER in black alongside manuscript endorsement 'Paid - Money'. Reverse with 'Hamilton / CW' arrival cds (April 2). Spike hole in centre and consequential closed tear in panel but an attractive and rare usage. Cert. Graves Greene (1995) Scott 1 = $ 1'900.

3 d. red, vertical strip of 3 with clear to large margins with black target cancel used on large size envelope with adjacent clear red "PICKTON JU 12 1851" to Toronto with transit and arrival marks; a very fine and rare triple-rate letter, with stamps on laid paper a unique item Provenance: Nickle, Lubke, Wilkinson (2007), Joseph Hackmey (2011)

3 d. red and 2 copies 6 d. slate-violet, one 6 d. cut with the outer frame line at top, otherwise good to very wide margins, 6 d. very nice deep colour, tied by black target and red "MONTREAL JU 20 1852" to small envelope with original contents to Carnarvon in Wales (short-paid 1 d.) with transit mark of Chester and arrival mark; the cover skillfully repaired in the folds with 3 d. cleaned and pressed, one 6 d. tiny corner crease, still very attractive and of greatest rarity; the only known cover with both first issue stamps Provenance: 'Foxbridge' Collection (John du Pont, 1989) Warren Wilkinson (2007) Joseph Hackmey (2011) Illustrated in Arfken, Leggett, Firby & Steinhart and in 'Gems of Canadian Philately'

6 d. slade-violet, horizontal pair with clear to very wide margins, tied by target cancel to lettersheet with adjacent "TORONTO CANADA MY 18 1853" to St. John, New Brunswick with transit and arrival marks; at top small part of the cover missing due to opening, otherwise very fine. A very scarce quadruple rate cover Provenance: Sam Nickle (1993) Warren Wilkinson (2007) Joseph Hackmey (2011)

6 d. slate-violet, in horizontal strip of 3, the left stamp cut-into at bottom and left, otherwise clear to wide margins, tied by target cancel and red boxed "COLONIES & c. Art 12" to lettersheet from "NEW-CARLISLE GASPE DE 1 1851" to France, showing on reverse transit marks of Chatham, Peticodiac and Sackville. The franking paid the 3 d. overland rate to Nova Scotia and the colonial packet rate of 15 d. currency from Halifax to Britain; in France taxed "15" (decimes). The mail was closed at the Sackville exchange office and the letter carried on vessel 'Asia', which arrived at Liverpool 20.12.1851; the cover skillfully repaired in the folds, a faint vertical crease affecting the left stamp. A remarkable cover with the largest multiple of this stamp on cover Provenance: Sam Nickle (1993) Warren Wilkinson (2007) Joseph Hackmey (2011)

6 d. slate-violet with good to wide margins, together with wove paper 3 d. red, slightly touched in the outer frame line at left, otherwise clear to mostly wide margins, tied by target cancel to GB postal stationery envelope 1 d. pink with adjacent clear "GODERICH NOV 17 1854" to England. Apparently the sender was convinced this franking would match the 10 d. letter rate to UK by Cunard Line, which the postmaster apparently at first glance also accepted and stamped the cover "8 d. Stg." (= 10 d.) but then, cancelled this marking by 2 strikes of target cancel and rated the cover as "d 1" due, not accepting the British envelope; slight staining on cover and stamps removed, a very fine and most unusual combination cover, only one similar item recorded; certificate Greene (1989) Provenance: John Siverts Warren Wilkinson (2007) Joseph Hackmey (2011) Illustrated in Arfken, Leggett, Firby & Steinhart and in 'Gems of Canadian Philately'

6 d. slate-violet in horizontal pair with wove paper 3 d. brown-red, the pair partly slightly cut-into, otherwise clear to wide margins, tied by black target to small envelope with adjacent red "QUEBEC AU 7 1852" to England; on front straight line "MORE-TO-PAY" and tax mark "1", also red "PKT. LETTER PAID LIVERPOOL"; somewhat unfresh, the right 6 d. affected by a light cover crease; a rare early part-paid cover Provenance: Louise Boyd Dale and Alfred F. Lichtenstein (1968-70) Ed Richardson Warren Wilkinson (2007) Joseph Hackmey (2011)

1852/57, handmade wove paper: 3 d. orange-red on thin paper, vertical pair with clear to ample margins, tied by black target to lettersheet with large part of contents with adjacent "MONTREAL SP 25 1854" via London to Hamburg with arrival mark of the city post on reverse. The letter was carried by the Cunard steamer 'Niagara' which departed Boston on September 27; the stamps paid the rate to Boston while the unpaid 2/-transatlantic postage was due upon delivery in Hamburg; a fine and rare cover, only three Pence covers are recorded to the German area; certificate PES (2005) Provenance: Charles P. de Volpi 'Foxbridge' Collection (John du Pont, 1989) Ed Richardson Norman Hubbard (2004) Warren Wilkinson (2007) Joseph Hackmey (2011)

3 d. orange-red, vertical strip of 3, pair and single, partly slightly touched or cut-into but mostly good to wide margins, used with black target on entire letter from "MONTREAL SP 14 1854" via London to Hamburg, endorsed "Per Steamer Baltic"; adjacent red "P" and London "PAID"-marking, also manuscript "4" for the sea-postage credited to the US; some small faults but still attractive; a unique cover to Germany, certificate PES (2005). Provenance: Charles P. de Volpi Warren Wilkinson (2007) Joseph Hackmey (2011) Illustrated in Arfken, Leggett, Firby & Steinhart and in 'Gems of Canadian Philately'

3 d. deep red in horizontal pair from the lower right sheet margin (pos. 99-100 of pane A) with good to large margins, ca. 6-10 mm sheet margin at right and bottom, the lower outer margin showing a small portion of frame of pos. 10 of pane B, tied by target cancel to lettersheet with adjacent "LONDON U.C. DE 13 1854" and red "CANADA PAID 10 cts." to New York with frontside "SUSPENSION BRIDGE N.Y."; a light diagonal cover crease affecting the stamps slightly. This is the only known partial gutter pair of all pence-issues and one of the most important items of Canadian Philately, certificate BPA (1997) Provenance: W.H. Brouse Louise Boyd Dale and Alfred F. Lichtenstein (1968-70) Warren Wilkinson (2007) Joseph Hackmey (2011) Illustrated in Arfken, Leggett, Firby & Steinhart

3 d. scarlet-vermilion on thin paper, horizontal pair, the left stamp slightly touched at left, otherwise clear to good margins, tied by date stamp "PORTLAND NE. PAID JUN 20" (1856) to lettersheet with adjacent arched "U. STATES." entry mark to Montreal with arrival mark of the next day; the stamps with small internal cut resp. marginal crease, otherwise fine, some splits in the cover folds, partly fixed; a very rare inofficial use of Canadian stamps on cross-border cover from the US to Canada, only 5 such covers known Provenance: Alfred H. Caspary (1956) Warren Wilkinson (2007) Joseph Hackmey (2011)

3 d. scarlet-vermilion in horizontal pair and 10 d. bright blue, one 3 d. tiny touched in the outer frame line, otherwise clear to wide margins, tied by target to envelope with adjacent "HAMILTON JA 29 1855" to London, endorsed "Per Royal Mail Steamer", adjacent red "8 PAID 10" and London arrival mark; left 3 d. small tear and some creasing pressed; an attractive and rare cover at the 'Crimean War-Rate'; certificate BPA (1995) Provenance: Gerald E. Wellburn Robertson Warren Wilkinson (2007) Joseph Hackmey (2011) Illustrated in Arfken, Leggett, Firby & Steinhart

3 d. brown-red in horizontal block of 6, slightly cut-into to clear margins with small tear at upper left, used with black target cancel on large size triple-rate envelope (filing folds and tears, partly fixed) with adjacent red "MONTREAL JU 25 1853", bowed "CANADA" and "PAID" to Philadelphia. Unique example of a 3 d. block of 6 on cover; certificate Greene Provenance: Charles Firby Ed Richardson Warren Wilkinson (2007) Joseph Hackmey (2011)