CORINPHILA AUCTIONS 297 - 308 Day 1

1874: 1 d. lilac-mauve, 2 d. blue and 6 d. blue-green, wmk. Crown CC, perf. 12½, unused examples overprinted SPECIMEN in black (Samuel Type D11), all with large part og. Extremely rare, between 1 and 6 examples are recorded of the first issue with the 'Specimen' overprints, probably utilised as file copies by De La Rue: see "The De La Rue Collection" edited by Frank Walton RDP page 4509 for similar examples.rn