1841 QV 2d Blue Imperforate, White Lines (SG 14) - Group of 5
£300.00
Five used Queen Victoria twopence blue imperforates of 1841, the issue with white lines added above POSTAGE and below TWO PENCE. Sold together as one lot.
Why the twopence blue. It paid a rate most letters did not need, so it was printed, and survives, in a fraction of the numbers of the penny red. A tired penny red is worth pennies; a tired twopence blue is not.
Every stamp read individually. Three of the five carry something beyond an ordinary barred numeral.
• N-K — very lightly cancelled, with the Queen’s head clear of ink. A light cancel is what collectors pay for on a classic imperforate, and this is the best of the group.
• N-C and G-K — both cancelled with the Maltese Cross, the first obliterator of all, in use from 1840 until numbered cancels replaced it in 1844. It carries no number, and struck heavily its curved arms print in outline. A Maltese Cross on a twopence blue is sought after in its own right.
• K-E — a well-struck England and Wales barred numeral, 44.
• A-? — a very heavy strike with a bold 7 across the face, hiding one corner letter. The weakest copy of the five.
Margins, checked in hand. One has three clear margins and part of the fourth, three have three clear margins, and one has a single margin only. None has four, and four are not claimed. On an imperforate the margins matter as much as the cancel.
Not done. Not plated (the 1841 white lines twopence came from plates 3 and 4, which carry no plate number), watermarks not checked in a tray, no certificate.
About this description. Written from high-resolution scans of the actual item, with AI assistance, and not examined in hand by an accredited expert. Catalogue numbers, plates, shades and overprint types are indicative and not guaranteed, and faults such as thins, repairs, regumming or re-perforation do not always show in a scan. For anything valuable we recommend an opinion from the BPA or the RPSL. The photograph is of the stamp you will receive.
Your rights. This is an online sale, so you have 14 days from delivery to cancel and return the item for a refund, and your statutory rights are not affected.