Lot# 5196 - Auction 284 - 290

Issued at Old Calabar 1893 (Sept 3): ½+½ d. on Great Britain 1 d. lilac, a used 'block of four' of unsevered pairs marginal from top of sheet, the upper stamps surcharged in violet, the lower ½+½ d. on 1 d. lilac surcharged in red, lightly cancelled by "Old Calabar River" datestamps in black. Just four half sheets were surcharged in violet at Old Calabar and thus just 24 ½ d. stamps can exist from the top rows only whilst the remaining 936 stamps were surcharged in red. A magnificent multiple, a great rarity with just four, possibly five pairs known; in the foremost quality for the connoisseur. Certs. RPSL (1926, signed by Edward Denny Bacon) and BPA (1994) Gi = £ 16'450+.rnProvenance: Christies, London, 9 March 1994, lot 2749.