C.G.H. – MAFEKING 1900 (April) 3d Pale blue/blue SG 19a Used
One of the great Boer War rarities. These stamps are widely considered to be one of the greatest and most extraordinary error stamps of the British Empire.
The only British Empire stamp not to feature the Monarch.
This stamp was produced during the 7 month ‘Seige of Mafeking’ in 1899 to 1900, during the ‘Second Boer Wars’, and features an image of Robert Baden-Powell - the town's garrison commander and future founder of the scouting movement.
The siege itself received disproportionate news coverage in Britain as there were several important people in the town at the time - including Edward Cecil, son of the Prime Minister, and Sarah Wilson, the daughter of the Duke of Marlborough (Winston Churchill’s aunt).
One unexpected result of the siege was that the Post Office ran out of stamps. The Postmaster suggested to Baden-Powell that he commission the local printer to print stamps for use within the town. The printer didn’t want to encroach on the Royal Mail’s issuing of stamps so decided to use a picture of Baden-Powell instead of Queen Victoria. This was the first occasion where a non-royal's picture was used on a British postage stamp - an exclusive and famous feature of British stamps (the United Kingdom to this day remains the only country to not put their name on issued stamps but rather uses the Monarch’s profile).
On this stamp the image of Baden-Powell is reversed. This ‘reversed design’ error could only occur as a result of a unique production method that employed a photographic process using a glass negative plate. In this instance the plate was printed from the wrong side meaning the whole design is a slightly out of focus mirror image. The head is facing to the right and all the inscriptions are reversed.
This item is in exceptional condition and shows the earliest known date of use. This example is considered to be the finest of the seven used examples recorded (there are also three unused). Two of the used examples are in the Royal Philatelic Collection (along with one unused) leaving only 5 examples in private hands.
GUIDE PRICE £60,000.00
1900 (April). 3d pale blue/blue ‘Baden-Powell’. 18 ½ mm wide. SG19a
The upper right corner example from the one sheet of 12 printed. Centrally cancelled by ‘AP 27 1900’ cds on fragment of original piece.
Ex ‘Salisbury’ (CRL 20/09/95, lot 110)
Ex ‘Goodyear’ (CRL 08/06/93, lot 155)
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