Issued at Old Calabar 1893 (Dec): 'One / Shilling' in violet on Great Britain 2 d. grey-green & carmine, a used example with Gibbons Type 11 handstamped surcharge Type A, marginal from top of sheet tied to small piece by complete strike of "Old Calabar River" circular datestamp (April 11, 1895) in black. Extremely rare - just two used examples are recorded from the Trail Sheet (reference John Sacher page 37). A rarity of the issue Gi = £...

Issued at Old Calabar 1893 (Dec): 'One / Shilling' in violet on Great Britain 2 d. grey-green & carmine, an unused horizontal pair with Gibbons Type 11 handstamped surcharge Type A from the Trial Sheet, first stamp with variety "Surcharge Diagonal Reading Up" and the right hand stamp with variety "Surcharge Diagonal Inverted Reading Down", centred to left, of fresh colour and fine, large part og. A wonderful multiple and a great rarity of...

Issued at Old Calabar 1893 (Dec): 'One / Shilling' in vermilion on Great Britain 2 d. grey-green & carmine, an unused vertical pair with Gibbons Type 11 handstamped surcharge Type A, from the Trial Sheet, upper stamp surcharged in vermilion, lower stamp surcharged in violet; fresh and extremely fine, superb large part og. A magnificent multiple in the foremost quality. Cert. BPA (1973) Gi = £ 1'275++.rnProvenance: Collection Renato...

Issued at Old Calabar 1893 (Dec): 'One / Shilling' in black on Great Britain 2 d. grey-green & carmine, an unused example with Gibbons Type 11 handstamped surcharge Type B, fresh colour and very fine appearance with surcharge strongly applied, top perfs. with slight traces of the red blotting paper used for storing the stamps, large part og. An immensely rare stamp. Signed A. Diena, Houtzamer. Cert. BPA (1986) Gi = £ 6'000.rnrn 

Issued at Old Calabar 1893 (Dec): '5/-' in violet on Great Britain 2 d. grey-green & carmine, an unused example with Gibbons Type 12 handstamped surcharge, variety "Surcharge Vertical Reading Down", of fine colour and appearance, large part og. An immensely rare stamp with just 4 stamps recorded, one housed in the collection of His Majesty King Charles III. One of the most elusive of all British Colonial stamps. Cert. BPA (1954) Gi = £ 45...

Issued at Old Calabar 1893 (Dec): '10/-' in vermilion on Great Britain 5 d. dull purple & blue, an unused horizontal pair with Gibbons Type 12 handstamped surcharge, first stamp with variety "Surcharge Vertical Reading Up" and the right hand stamp normal, of fresh colour but right hand perforations somewhat blunted, typical speckles from red blotting paper utilised to store the stamps on part og. Despite the minor imperfection an...

1894 (Jan 1): Oil Rivers obliterated, the complete set of six from ½ d. vermilion to 1 s. black, all used on 2 d. blue postal stationery registration envelope (235 x 100 mm.) all tied by "Old Calabar River" datestamps (Feb 28, 1894) in black. 'Registered / Liverpool' transit on front (April 5) and London arrival on reverse of an attractive cover.

1894 (Jan 1): 1 d. dull blue, two examples used on 1894 cover to London in combination with provisional Oil Rivers Sept 1893 ½ in red on half of 1 d. lilac, all tied by fine strikes of the "Bonny" squared circle datestamp (April 19) in black. "Paid / Liverpool / Br. Packet" cds in red on front (May 15) and Paddington arrival on reverse of a most attractive and scarce correctly rated cover.

Oil Rivers 1893: Waterlow Essay / Die Proof prior to 'Oil Rivers' being obliterated, 2 d. in myrtle green, imperforate on medium wove paper (26.5 x 32 mm.), with some retouching in pale bluish green ink below the value tablets at top and below the shells, slightest of tone spots otherwise fine. Rare.

Bonny River Provisional Bisects 1894 (Jan): 2 d. green vertically biseccted, 1 d. dull blue diagonally bisected and Oil Rivers 1892 2 d. grey-green & carmine vertically bisected, all used on 1894 cover to Everton, Liverpool, tied by bold strikes of "Bonny" squared circle datestamps (Sept 11) in black. 'Paid / Liverpool / Br. Packet' cds in red at left (Oct 25). Minor corner bends to envelope well away from the adhesives, but correctly...

Oil Rivers 1893: Waterlow Essay / Die Proof prior to 'Oil Rivers' being obliterated, stamp size imperforate Essay for the proposed 5 d. value, printed in lilac on medium wove paper, fresh and very fine. Rare and most attractive.

1894 (May): The complete set of six values, ½ d. yellow-green to 1 s. black, each handstamped by seriffed "SPECIMEN" by receiving admnistration upon receipt from the UPU, aged and with small imperfections including occasional bends, part og., nevertheless a very rare set.rnProvenance: Grosvenor, London, 15-16 May 2003, lot 1031.