Lot 30277 – THE “SIR JOHN WILSON” 12 CENTS PALE BLUE COVER

THE “SIR JOHN WILSON” 12 CENTS PALE BLUE COVER

1850-51, 12 cents black on pale blue, Townsend Type D, with initials of postal clerk Wight “EDW”, cut square with close to good margin on three sides, used on 2 June 1852 entire letter (Duff correspondence) from Berbice to Demerara, with clearly dated Demerara cds on June 3, the stamp tied by archive fold at left as in the two covers recorded, consequently being available to collectors in this condition only; (SG £160’000).

The earlier known usage on cover of only two recorded exhibiting this stamp. All “Cotton Reels” are exceedingly scarce on cover and renowned “aristocrats” of worldwide philately.

Provenance:

Sir John Wilson (Keeper of the Royal Philatelic Collection)

John E. du Pont (Lot 60026, David Feldman SA, June 2014)

“Imperium” (Lot 30045, David Feldman SA, October 2021)

Expertise: Cert. BPA (2014)