Corinphila Auction 284-290 Day 3

1856: Great Britain 6 d. lilac, a used example on 1858 cover from Montserrat to London endorsed "Paid", tied by "A08" obliterator and by manuscript "Ans'd 16 Oct 58". Double arc "MONTSERRAT" datestamp (Sept 11) on reverse, displaying well on flap, with London arrival cds (Oct 2) in red. File fold well away from the adhesive which has slight corner fault; nevertheless an extremely rare usage: this being the earliest recorded date of use (see Parmenter, Gordon & Morton, page 6/13, rarity 'H'). No example of this franking was in the "Besançon" West Indies or the "Glassco" and "Dubois" British Post Offices Abroad collections. The sole full cover recorded and one of the key items for any significant  "Used Abroad" or Montserrat collections. Cert. BPA (1997).rnProvenance: Robson Lowe, March 1977 (probably); Collection Andre Bollen, Köhler, Wiesbaden, 1983, lot 942; Collection "De Boer", Corinphila sale 100, 16 June 1997, lot 4636.