Auction Series 257-264 in Zurich Day 1

1840: 1d. black, plate 5, lettered SE, Imprimatur from the 1st registration sheet (before hardening), very fine and fresh with close to large margins all round, just 23 stamps were removed from the Imprimatur sheet, many of which are in institutional collections: TA housed in the N.P.M., London; TH in the Tapling collection, British Library; AL in the Royal Collection. The other 1 d. black imprimatur from plate 5, lettered SE from the Royal Collection was offered later as part of the Gaetano Vullo collection in a London auction in November 2003 and realised £ 16'468 (incl. buyer's premium). Cert. RPS (2001) Gi 2 Imp. = £ 32'000.rnProvenance: Collection of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, Spink, London, 17 May 2001, lot 9. Sold after Her Majesty The Queen approved the purchase of the famous block of ten 1840 1d. blacks used on first day cover from the Cohen collection.rn 
Catalogue 257: EUROPE & OVERSEAS