In Sydney, Australia, Status International held a sale Sept. 1.
Naturally, it was heavy on Australia and British Empire stamps, with the
standout lot being a lovely example of New Zealand’s first stamp.
The remote South Pacific colony had its first issue in
1855, in denominations of 1 penny, 2d and 1 shilling (12d). Because
there was no capability for high-quality security printing in New
Zealand at the time, the stamps were prepared in England by Perkins,
Bacon & Co., the same firm that had produced the Penny Black and all
of Britain’s line-engraved Victoria stamps.
The design for New Zealand featured a likeness of Queen
Victoria based on a full-length portrait by the Swiss painter Alfred
Edward Chalon, done at the time of the queen’s ascension to the throne
in 1837.
Reproduced as a watercolor by Edward Henry Corbould and
engraved for postage stamps by the talented and prolific William
Humphrys, the so-called Chalon Head design was used by almost a dozen
British colonies, from Canada to southern Africa to the Australian
states. (The painting, and several of the stamps based upon it, can be seen here.)
On the New Zealand stamps, the not quite full-face
portrait of Victoria is surrounded by a complex geometric pattern in a
circle, engraved by a special mechanical lathe known as a “rose engine.”
This proprietary technology earned Perkins, Bacon & Co. many
security-printing contracts, because the combination of masterful
hand-engraved portraiture and ornate mechanical patterns made the
results almost impossible to forge.
Only a limited printing of the first New Zealand stamps
was done in London, on paper watermarked with a large six-pointed star.
The plates then were shipped to the colony and further printings were
done in Auckland on unwatermarked paper. Additional denominations,
papers and perforation types resulted in dozens of varieties during the
next 20 years.
The original London printing of the 1-penny remains one
of the rarest stamps in New Zealand’s Chalon series, and, as the
country’s Number One, it is highly prized by collectors. The example in
the Status International sale, with “almost four margins” and a light
cancel leaving the portrait clearly visible, was accompanied by a
certificate from Robert Odenweller, the noted U.S. expert on New Zealand
philately.
It sold for the equivalent of $10,450, including the 19.25 percent buyer’s premium levied by the firm.
Stamps and postal history of India shone in a number of
recent sales, revealing the incredible range of material in the
subcontinent’s philately.
British rule over India took various forms from the
second half of the 18th century until 1947. Beginning in 1854, the East
India Co. and, later, the British government issued stamps that were
valid across India as well as in places like the Arabian peninsula that
fell under Indian postal administration.
Source : http://www.linns.com/
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