Spink is to offer the John Clemente Collection of Tasmania Postal History in London on September 20.

The collection chiefly comprises several important collections of circular date stamps from across the island's history.

A piece from the 1861-1900 collection of second numeral cancellations

Among the highlights is a collection of 1861-1900 second numeral cancellations.

Comprising over 600 individual pieces, it's a comprehensive overview of the cancellations in use in Tasmania during this period.

It carries an estimate of £10,000-12,000 ($12,977-15,572).

An 1854 official entire (meaning the complete postal stationery) sent from the town of Hobart to Port Arthur could make £2,000-3,000 ($2,595-3,893).

The lot was immediately sent back to Hobart from Port Arthur, a story that is told through its various cancellations and date stamps.  

Clemente's son Robert writes: "His interest in Tasmanian postal history started with a collection of pictorial post marks in the late 1960s: my mother tells the story of a discussion with another collector who was telling him how many years he had taken to assemble a complete collection of all Tasmanian Post Office CDSs on pictorials.

"'I'll do it in a year', said my father.

"And indeed he did, although Glazier's Bay type 2 is still missing, together with one or two others".

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