Great Britain 1840 1d black, plate 1a, SG2 - The "Sandeman Port" penny black first day cover.
May 6th, 1840, the first day of issue, "Sandeman Port" letter and invoice from Sandeman, Forster & Co. sent from Lombard Street to Norwich bearing a 1d black plate 1a lettered "QJ", tied by a complete Maltese Cross cancellation and with Lombard Street Maltese Cross type "6 MY 6/1840" datestamp on reverse.
A stunning quality first day cover of the world's first postage stamp marking the dawn of prepaid postage and spawning a communications revolution. Widely considered to be the finest quality single Penny Black first day cover in existence described as such in the "Collectors Club Philatelist" July-August 2006 edition.
A beautiful exhibition display piece of the ultimate trophy asset in philately.
Accompanied with two independent certificates of authenticity from the British Philatelic Association (BPA), the most recent dated 2002.
Provenance: Ex. Alan Holyoake Grand Prix Gold Medal Winning Collection "Mayflower". Featured in "The World's First Postage Stamp" book by Alan Holyoake published by the Royal Philatelic Society in 2013.
The Stanley Gibbons specialised catalogue (2011) listed a penny black 6th May cover at a price of £160,000.
GB Specialised Catalogue Number: A1ta.
