Lot 10212 – The Sacred Cows Officials Specialized Collection An

The Sacred Cows Officials Specialized Collection

An outstanding, extensive, valuable and specialized collection of these popular issues, mounted and presented on approximately 142 pages. This collection represents a life-time of collecting and studying, and is ordered by Stanley Gibbons numbers and includes many of the 58 recorded settings on almost all values from ¼ anna to 5 rupee, showing all three overprint types, with ovpt colours including the common black ovpt, the scarce red ovpt and the very rare green ovpt, plus a few of the rarely seen composite settings.

This offering comprises and amazing array of complete and reconstructed sheets with some tête-bêche panes, plus a fine range of shades and cancels on stamps and fragments, some revenue usages present also, paper variation with laid, thin, medium wove and thick wove. Overprint varieties include double, double both inverted, sideways, missing in pair with normal, printed on reverse, shifted etc., plus array of other minor varieties and additional specialties including preprinting paper fold. Many scarcer items with some of the highlights being 6a pale ultramarine unused with RED ovpt (SG O11aA, £750), 10a olive-sepia unused (SG O13C, £1100), 12a sage green, unused sheet of four BA/CD from setting 13 (SG O14A, £900), 12a grey, unused (SG O31C, £900), 1/2a black unused (SG O51C, £800), 1/2a black unused (SG O51aA, £1200), 1/2a black unused (SG O51aB, £1200), 2a deep green unused (SG O1baC, £450), 2 1/2a chrome-yellow (SG O2C, £500), 1/2a chrome-yellow (SG O2aA, £425), 1/2a chrome-yellow (SG O2aB, £475), 3a chestnut, unused sheet of four from setting 14 CABD with GREEN ovpt (SG O3aA, £2000), 3a chestnut used with RED ovpt (SG O3bA, £650), 6a cobalt unused marginal (SG O4aC, £750), 1r reddish violet (SG O5aA, £750). A few items with certificates.

A truly magnificent collection and a superb basis for study and expansion which would result in an important exhibition collection (over 870 stamps including more than 110 complete sheets) (SG £83’600+).