Lot 70866 – 1850-51 12 cents black on pale blue, Townsend Type B, with initials of postal clerk Wight « EDW », cut octagonally, used

1850-51, 12 cents black on pale blue, Townsend Type B, with initials of postal clerk Wight « EDW », cut octagonally with almost clear to large margins all round, with ideal strike of 29 July 1851 Demerara datestamp, « two shallow thins » mentioned in the certificate, but we are of the opinion that these could be due to translucency caused by the gum from a previous hinge, as no paper abrasion is to be seen (actually in the Caspary sale this stamp was described as « very fine »); (SG £13’000).One of the finest of just seven cut-octagonally single examples in private hands. Provenance: Alfred H. Caspary (Lot 204, Harmers, May 1957)John E. du Pont (Lot 60023, David Feldman SA, June 2014) Expertise: Pemberton guarantee hs and signed Bloch, Cert. BPA (2014)