4th December 2014
A 1/9d stamp bought by a client in 1967 from his local Post office to add to his stamp collection was sold in our December stamp auction for £23,600 (incl 18% buyer's premium). After checking the stamp at home Mr Heywood realised that there was an error with the stamp and returned to the Post Office to see if there were any more available but the rest of the sheet had already been sold.
Described before the auction as ‘the most important GB modern error to be sold this century’ the stamp is from the 1967 Discoveries & Inventions set and the error is that the orange colour used for the Queen’s head is missing. The stamp is in a vertical pair with a normal stamp above, the stamp is from the bottom row of the sheet as there is a margin below it.
There is no explanation for why the colour was missed but it is possible that all the stamps in the bottom row were affected the same way which means there could be another 19 similar stamps in collections without the owners being aware. As it is, no other example is known, making this a unique stamp.
Phil Stowe.