Lot 70045 – 1840 1d Black Perkins Bacons Archive die proofs of the rejected and accepted dies mounted on an album page

IMPORTANT PROOFS OF THE WORLD’S FIRST POSTAGE STAMP

1840 1d Black Perkins Bacons Archive die proofs of the rejected and accepted dies mounted on an album page, both printed in black on India paper and mounted on card, with the rejected die with “POSTAGE ONE PENNY” at foot on card 5.2×5.4cm, and the accepted die affixed on card 20x20cm with handwritten legend “Proof of Original Die of 1d Queen’s Head / Drawn by H. Corbould / Engraved by F. Heath, March, 1840”, both with Perkins, Bacon & Co hs on reverse, a stunning exhibition pair of the world’s first postage stamp

NOTE: The first die for the penny stamp (later rejected) was engraved by the Royal Master Engraver Charles Heath on instructions from Perkins Bacon & Petch in January 1840. The Die was abandoned as the background was considered to be too light and the Queens head was also too lightly engraved and it was found that the die did not transfer sufficiently well. Charles Heath started the second die in mid-January and was accepted by the Queen on March 2nd

Provenance: Perkins Bacon Archives and Tony Wicks