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Lot# 6300 - Auction 244-249

  • Lot# : 6300 Transvaal

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    Typographed by M.J. Viljoen in Pretoria 1870 (July 4): 6 d. ultramarine, blotchy coarse impression, on medium paper, rouletted 15½-16, an unused horizontal pair with variety: "tête-bêche", positions 25-26 on the right hand pane of 40 subjects, extremely fresh and fine but for minor corner bend in left sheet margin only, large part og. Exceptionally rare, not mentioned in the Major Harold Criddle article in the 'London Philatelist' (Volume 90, Nov-Dec 1981). However the four pairs Major Criddle mentions are: a block of four from the lower left corner of the pane in the collection of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II (ex Worthington), the ex Ferrary and Hind pair and one another pair both being in the J.H.Curle collection donated to the Afrikaner Museum in Johannesburg. Thus this pair is the sole recorded pair in private hands. Listed but unpriced by Stanley Gibbons, an exceptional item for the connoisseur of Southern African and British Colonial philately.rnrnProvenance: Rand Stamp Auctions, 20 Dec 1986, lot 1036.rnrnNote: Illustrated in 'The Tête-Bêche' Varieties of Transvaal by Alan Drysdall and Major Harold Criddle on page 16.
    Starting bid : 10,000 CHF
    Hammer price : 40,000 CHF