tradition and experience in classic philately since 1919

Lot# 3423 - Auction 298-307

  • Lot# : 3423 Great Britain

    1840: 1 d. black, plate 11, lettered EA-EB, an unused, large part original gum,horizontal pair in a deep shade, marginal from left of sheet with part "Cement" imprint, good to large margins on all sides, slight diagonal crease and ink spot in margin, otherwise fresh and fine.  A famous pair from the earl of Kingston block. Gi AS73 = £ 48'000+.rnNotes: The London Philatelist vol 3 pages 290-291 quoted from a paper read before the Philatelic Society London on November 30th 1894, by the then President the Earl of Kingston: "Four years ago I purchased a block of black pennies. It once formed the top of the sheet and consists of five entire rows of twelve stamps each. The margins are intact and perfect; the right and left hand corners of the margin contain the plate number II [.....] I took these figures to represent No 2 in Roman Numerals, but from enquiries made this summer (1894) I ascertained beyond doubt, that the practice has always been to number the sheets in Arabic Numerals. It proves therefore, that the block above described is not an impression from plate 2, but from plate 11 [...]."rnFrank Godden stated (date unknown): "The rarest known British piece in the world"  rnProvenence:rnThe original block:rnEarl of Kingston (1894)rnStanley Gibbons (acquired 1896)rnEarl of Crawford (1911)rnSparrow (acquired 1912)rnCharles Nissen (1912) subsequently split into a block of 36 rows A-C and a block of 24 rows D-E.rnThe Block of twenty-four containing EA-EB:rnExhibited by Frank Wadham, London Int. Exhibition (1923)rnExhibited at the RPSL Jubilee Exhibition (May 1935)rnThe Block of four DA-EB:rnCollection J.B. Seymour, Robson Lowe 6. Jun. 1951 lot 565.rnThe Pair EA-EBrnRobson Lowe Bournemouth 8. May 1954 lot 323.rnCollection Ernest Dale, Stanley Gibbons 10/11 Jun. 1969 lot  57.rnCollection W.H. Harrison Cripps, Stanley Gibbons 27 Oct. 1972 lot 58.rnCollection Chartwell, Spink 29 Jun. 2011 lot 1151.rnrn 
    Starting bid : 7,500 CHF
    Hammer price : 15,000 CHF