Stamps & Covers Public Auction 352

1848 QV 'Post Paid' 2d indigo-blue on greyish/bluish paper, EARLIEST IMPRESSION (pos 10). Superb UN, 4 margins from small to very large, amazing deep colour. SG 4 cat £65,000++ & undercatalogued as only tiny number of unused earliest impressions exist. Another example (with 4 even margins) sold in Europe in September 2015 for €150,000+ = A$220,000+! Very important classic stamp. No unused examples of the 'Post Office' issue remain in private hands, so the 'Post Paid' earliest impressions are in effect the 1st stamps for a serious unused collection of Mauritius. Beautiful example of this classic rarity. Provenance is the famous Ferrary collection -this was lot 80 of 1st auction of June 1921. 2014 Brandon photo cert, while another new cert can be obtained on request. (P)