Something Missing, Something Missed

The catalogue for our Specialised Great Britain auction, to be held over two days on April 25th-26th, is now with our printers and will be despatched shortly.

Results on the sale days are expected to be 'interesting', a substantial drain on the funds of collectors and dealers having been caused by the rushed arrival of the Chartwell collection onto an already overstretched Great Britain market.

Our sale contains a well-balanced mix of material with a particularly strong Q.E.II section including Machins and commemorative varieties. The 'Errors' field is a market all of its own, one where dramatic appearance and rarity coincide, resulting in some very high prices. This sale includes several items from the innocent days of the early 1960s before Tony Benn fundamentally changed the stamp issuing policy of this country.

Among our pre-Benn rarities in the April auction is a full row of ten of the 1961 Post Office Savings Bank 21/2d. (see below for a partial illustration), printed by the Timson machine, showing one stamp from the eight column with black completely missing and three with traces only. Only three such strips are known, hence our estimate of £20,000-25,000. A lone single example of the variety also exists, its condition not improved by having been kept in the finder's wallet for many years.

It was 1965 that the then Postmaster-General, Anthony Wedgwood-Benn, decreed that in future British stamps would no longer be "royal" or "Establishment" orientated, and would instead celebrate the people, the life, literature and culture of the country, "to celebrate events of national or international importance, to commemorate appropriate anniversaries and occasions and to reflect Britain’s unique contribution to the arts and world affairs".

For some this would signify a liberalisation, for others a descent into the world of wallpaper.

In his autobiography Another Part of the Wood, Kenneth Clark (later to become famous for his Civilisation TV series) recalled that in his early days he promised King George V that he would, in the king's words, "never allow them to make all those fancy issues of stamps like some ridiculous place like San Marino". Much later, as Chairman of the Postage Stamp Committee, Clark was called to see Wedgewood-Benn to discuss the plans for more frequent issues. Remembering his promise to the late king, Clark spoke in disagreement and offered his resignation, which was duly accepted.

According to Clark it had been George V's view that "We invented the postage stamp - all it had on was the sovereign's head and Postage and the value. That's all we want".

His Majesty might rather have enjoyed the Machin section of our April sale . . .

JG