Auction 309-320 - Great Britain 1840–1841 Europe & Overseas - Day 5

1854, 2 d. blue, plate 4, lettered AD, die I, alphabet I, wmk. small crown, variety "Imperforate three sides", showing perforation 16 across base, used on cover, from London to Pershore, dated 8 January 1855, tied by London Inland cancel in black, to reverse the London dispatch and a fine strike of the Pershore towndated in brown, 9 January 1855, stamp is in "state II" repair of plate showing slight signs of renewed wear, large margins top and good almost all the way round, just close to touching top lefts side, a remarkably fresh stamp, unique on cover, some minor kinks and wrinkles to envelope, extremely rare; only this example and an off-cover pair recorded from the same "A row"; the error almost certainly confined to a single perforation batch; i.e. between 36 and 60 stamps affected; currently unpriced in SG although is listed as a variety on the SG19 perforated issue. Cert. RPSL (2023).rnRemark: The other recorded pair on piece, from the top row of the sheet, lettered AK-AL, sold at Stanley Gibbons, 9-10 November 1978, lot 271, realising £450. It also had an RPSL (1978) certificate which stated "partly imperforate owing to faulty perforating of the sheet."rnReference: Illustrated in "Stamp Perforation: The Somerset House Years 1848 to 1880", by R. Simpson & P. Sargent, photo plate 7.