Lot 60337 – 1877 Oil Colour Issues on European Laid Paper, with

1877 Oil Colour Issues on European Laid Paper, with Early Dated Cover. An exceptional and highly specialized group from the 1877 handstamped oil colour issues, printed on European laid paper. While earlier printings on local paper often resulted in smudged and indistinct impressions, the adoption of European laid paper led to improved clarity and marked the transition to the second series of oil colour printings. The group includes: ½ anna greyish-black, ½ anna red, a particularly rare stamp, unpriced unused in SG (used £2,250), 4 annas red, 1 anna slate blue in a block of eight, an impressive multiple. Also included is a remarkable and historically important cover, representing the earliest recorded usage of the issue. A cover bearing 1½ anna black, sent from Jammu to Amritsar, dated 31 January 1877, affixed on reverse to a ½ anna Queen Victoria British-Indian postal stationery. The adhesive is tied by the rare Jammu black square seal cancellation (Type 4). This example predates the previously recorded earliest usage (February 1877; literature ref. p.99), thereby establishing a new earliest known date for the issue. The ½ anna black represents the first stamp printed in this colour.The cover additionally bears the Sialkot City datestamp, used in conjunction with the barred L-3/8 obliterator at the British Post Office in Sialkot during 1876–1877. A superb and important assembly, combining rare stamps, multiples, and a key early-dated cover of great postal-historical significance. Rare and fine (SG £4000+).