Auction 333-341 Nigeria, Cameroon, Sudan & Worldwide Postal History - Day 4

Niger Coast Protectorate 1895: Postal Stationery Card, 1 d. vermilion, unused, overprinted "I R / SPECIMEN" in black, small corner bend lower left, very fresh and fine. Rare; only known example in private hands.
Note: This rare specimen handstamp was recorded by Marcus Samuel in the London Philatelist (Vol. 65 No. 768, pg. 195) used on a set of British stamps current around 1891. Samuel suggested it was used by the Inland Revenue for items in their official reference collection and added: "This view is strengthened by the discovery of the same two overprints* on an 1892 British Post Card overprinted for use in the Niger Coast protectorate, because it is known that temporary assistance was, at times, afforded by the Inland Revenue Department to Dependencies aboard, and that British postage stamps and postal stationery were appropriated for that purpose."  The British Postal Museum & Archive has a pair. *The use of the word "two" is because Samuel was of the belief that the "I R" and "SPECIMEN" were separate overprints.