Lot 70069 – 1d. red on greyish, latest impression, vertical sheet marginal strip of four tied to large part of cover

1d. red on greyish, latest impression, vertical sheet marginal strip of four, positions 2/5/8/11, large to enormous margins, sheet margins at top and base, tied to large part of cover front with upper back flap from Port Louis to Nantes, France, tied by neat strikes of the target cancel, part ‘8’ décimes charge and red Suez entry cds at bottom, with crown ‘MAURITIUS/AU8 1859/GPO’ ds, French transits and receiving cds’s, undoubtedly one of the finest usages of Post Paid 1d strip of four to have survived, a delightful exhibition showpiece

Provenance: Rothschild, Schindler, Chand 2000 (Exhibited at British Library).

Expertise: Certs. A. Diena (1962, where the cover shows the lower part before having been detached and was heavily creased horizontally), G. Bolaffi (1963, in his current state as a part cover), Mohrmann (1964), B.P.A. (1995), Richter (1996)