Lot 455 o
Canada, 1851, Queen Victoria, 12d black, laid paper, neat target cancel, ample to clear margins, rich bold color, expertly repaired and mounted (rebacked), Fine appearance; with 1983 Friedl certificate. SG No. 4 £100,000 ($123,000).Scott No. 3 $135,000.
A FINE AND ATTRACTIVE APPEARING EXAMPLE OF THE 1851 12D QUEEN VICTORIA ISSUE - A CLASSIC CANADIAN RARITY.
On May 14, 1851, a package containing 51,000 twelve pence stamps was sent by the printers Rawdon, Wright, Hatch & Edson of New York to Postmaster General James Morris in Toronto. From this first and only consignment of twelve pence stamps, only 1,510 stamps where issued to 14 different post offices between June 14th of 1851 and December 4th of 1854. With the Ingersoll Post Office return sixty examples, only a mere 1,450 examples where ever sold through the post office, with the remaining backstock eventually destroyed. This issue is considered among the rarest of the British Commonwealth issues.
Realized: $16,000