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You never know what is hidden in the attic!.

Robert and I were called to view a collection in the West of England recently. It was kept in an old box and consisted mainly of King Edward VII to Queen Elizabeth II British stamps and several old albums of British Commonwealth stamps - nothing of great value, but a decent lot and worth several hundred pounds. The owner had inherited the lot from his grandfather, and told us that his great grandfather had worked for a printing company in London that had been involved in the printing of stamps and banknotes, and that when he was a child, he had been shown what his grandfather called a "Penny Blue". This somewhat intrigued us, and when the owner said that he was sure nothing had been taken away from the collection, we removed the thick layer of old newspaper that lined the bottom of the box. There, lying between two of the sheets of newspaper, was a page from what turns out to have been a Perkins Bacon work book, with colour trials of stamps of New South Wales, Trinidad and Great Britain with, alongside, the recipe for the inks used to create the colour. There were the two "Penny Blues", finally seeing the light again after 70 years of being hidden away!
Not everyone is so lucky to have gems like this hidden away in the attic, but every old accumulation or collection of stamps needs to be looked at carefully, and we have had 45 years experience in maximizing the value of stamps and collections on behalf of collectors and their families, so please do contact us if you require any help with the valuation and/or sale of any material relating to stamps or the history of the postal service.

 




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