An important Perot provisional on an 1861 cover has sold for £80,000 ($121,126) in a sale at Spink London.

The stamp is the first issued in Bermuda under the island's first postmaster, William Perot.  

Postmaster William Perot issued his first provisional stamp in 1848

Prior to the introduction of the stamp, post and the requisite payment was left in a box outside Perot's house.

Perot began to notice that there was a shortfall between the amount of post and the postage paid. He decided to issue a pre-paid stamp in order to remedy the situation.

The first set was introduced in 1848 and continued to circulate on the island into the mid-1860s. The present stamp is from the second issue (1849-1856) and is printed in red ink. The first issue (1848-1849) was printed in black ink.

Spink explains: "Perot's Second Issue appears on letters dated in March and April 1861, some months after his appointment as a member of the House of Assembly.

"Perot's Second Issue bore no indication of value as the First Issue had, and for this issue Perot thought it necessary to cancel each stamp with a pen cross."

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