Great Britain 1840 1d black, plate 1a, SG2

Great Britain 1840 1d black, plate 1a, SG2Widely considered to be the finest quality single Penny Black first day cover in existence. Great Britain 1840 1d black, plate 1a, SG2 The "Sandeman Port" penny black first day cover. May 6th, 1840, the first day of issue, "Sandeman Port" letter and invoice from Sandeman, Forster & Co. sent from Lombard Street to Norwich bearing a 1d black plate 1a lettered "QJ", tied by a complete Maltese Cross cancellation and with Lombard Street Maltese Cross type

but still a lovely and very scarce positional piece

each stamp neatly cancelled on arrival in London by a "40" numeral

A superb unmounted mint pair with full original gum

Pierron records only 42 mint examples many of which are damaged or soiled

A striking lizard brooch owned by Fidel Castro’s mistress

A very rare error as only 10 blocks are known to exist

It also bears the address of Wordsworth's Lake District home Rydal Mount

British band the Nashville Teens had two top 10 hits in 1964

which do not detract from such a fine piece

½d to £1 vermilion set of 16

millionaire aviation enthusiast Harry Guggenheim dipped into a promotional fund he had set up with his father

there are just 125 known UK-release album covers signed by all four members of the Beatles