Corinphila Auction 284-290 Day 2

Issued at Old Calabar 1893 (Dec): '20/-' in vermilion on Great Britain 1 s. dull green, an unused example with Gibbons Type 12 handstamped surcharge, of good colour and appearance and superb large part original gum. One of the rarest stamps in the world of classic philately with three examples recorded (possibly four examples, as yet unconfirmed to this describer), but the accepted three are illustrated and recorded in the H.R. Holmes article in the Philatelic Journal of Oct-Nov 1946). Magnificent in all respects and without doubt the finer of the two available examples, the others (ex Ferrary, sale 9, lot 32 / Hind lot 619 / Dale-Lichtenstein lot 201 / / H and T. Gibralter lot 1918) having two blunted perfs. at top and the third example resides in the collection of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II). An extraordinary stamp, a philatelist's dream to be able to see, handle and describe, the first time this stamp has been available for open auction sale in 34 years. Signed Stanley Gibbons. Cert. BPA (1987) Gi = £ 120'000.rnrnProvenance: Collection C.J. Daun (1901).rn                        Sold to Stanley Gibbons (circa June 1910).rn                        Collection Jorge E. Rodriguez of Buenos Aires (1911), exhibited in Vienna and Turin in 1911 and the Paris Exhibition of 1913.rn                        Collection Colonel E.H.R. Green, Harmer Rooke, New York, 13-18 Nov 1944, lot 1103.rn                        Collection Oliver Peyton (Isleham), Christies, New York, 11 March 1987, lot 2257.rn