Auction 309-320 - Australian States & Commonwealth British Africa, St. Helena - Day 2

1870: Essay for Stamp Statute 4 d. value, hand-painted in grey & sepia, with photographic print of hand-drawn head inserted at top, the perforations also hand-drawn, on thin card endorsed "1869" alongside the dated reverse of the Coin to correct the "1870" inscription; dated "17-11-70" on the reverse in ink. The above design was the subject of a letter from William Bell (19 Nov 1870) claiming that the engraving of the 4 d. coin obverse and reverse - required more work than the other values and desrved a 10% increase in his charges of £ 25. The additional payment was approved on 22 Nov 1870. Bell made an error on this handpainted design - which was faithfully copied on to the Die - spelling "BRITANNIA" as "BRITANNIAR". Illustrated in "The Stamps of Victoria" by Geoff Kellow RDP on colour plate 13. A unique and wonderful Essay.rnrnProvenance: Collection J.R.W. Purves, RL, Geneva, 27 Nov 1980, lot 2221.rn                     Collection Rod Perry, DF, Geneva, 23-25 May 1988, lot 11161.rn                     Prestige, Melbourne, 22 Feb 2013, lot 1349.rn                     Spink, London, 25 Nov 2015.rn