Top 5 Items of the Month
May wasn’t such an interesting month on eBay for the Jubilee collector I must say, but I’ve managed to scrape a few interesting items together. The first is a cute franking with both the 1887 1/2d and the 1900 1/2d. I’ve seen very few covers with this combination and it’s a nice addition to a collection to have both on cover. Cheap at only £8.
I find myself more and more fascinated by covers from early stamp dealers. This cover is from the well known Alfred Smith of Bath. There are several different versions of this example depicting his shop, and modern day stamp dealers regularly retail these covers for much more than the £19.70 this one fetched.
My only purchase this month was this underpaid cover to Australia. I was very happy to pay £18.70. With the “REFUSED, D.L.O.” (dead letter office) handstamp, I’m pretty sure an Australian postal history collector would be happy to pay at least double that.
This item was an interesting curiosity. I should have bought it and I could have used it on all the letters I send…although I don’t actually send that many. It’s a very well made reproduction of the 1/2d design in handstamp form. I think I’ve seen a couple before, and it sold for £25.69.
Finally, we have an example of a “Jury Summons”. These were required to be sent by registered post, and were sent by the locally to request citizens to turn up to Jury duty. Surprisingly this one has been refused by the recipient…
The 1887 Jubilee Issue 