Lot 80090 – Mauritius – 1847 “Post Office” 2d essays or proofs on cardboard paper in the correct shade and in the red that was used for the 1d value

Sperati Forgeries: 1847 “Post Office” 2d essays or proofs on cardboard paper in the correct shade and in the red that was used for the 1d value; the red is dated 3/51, indicating March 1951 and the blue has some partially erased production notes on reverse that probably pertain to exposure time and temperature. Also two glass clichés of the same 2d value in very light red and in greenish-blue (with image reversed) with some production notes. It is worthy of note that the 2d value has the tiny thin line in the bottom right corner, the secret marking that the Royal Philatelic Society put on reproductions to tell them apart from the genuine stamps. A stunning set of two matching pairs of this most iconic Sperati production, hitherto unrecorded, housed in Sperati’s cardboard box of photographic paper from the Lumière brothers.

Additional note on rarity and relevance: Nothing about the “Post Paid” was recorded in the Sperati II handbook by Robson Lowe and Carl Walske, and no examples were found in the Musée de la Poste of Paris.