Great Britain 1854 6d violet (Watermark inverted), SG61wj.
A very fine used large four margin left hand marginal horizontal pair of this rare shade lightly cancelled by two Derby "242" sideways duplexes.
Extremely rare as a used pair in such fine quality.
GB Specialised Catalogue No: H3 (4).
Accompanied with a 1991 Royal Philatelic Society (RPS) Certificate of Authenticity.
Embossed postage stamps from Great Britain were issued during the reign of Queen Victoria and were only in issue for a short period between 1847 and 1854. The 6d stamp covered the rate to Belgium.
The 6d stamp is quite unusual in that it has tinted gum. This was the result of a printing made in error on the gummed side of the paper.
The printing process for embossed stamps was laborious. Stamps were printed one at a time on silk thread paper. The design was raised and recessed to create a rough surface. The working die had to be used to apply each impression individually to the printed sheet by hand.
As a result, the impressions were usually poorly spaced, either being too close together or too far apart. It was quite common for stamps to overlap. Postal workers would then often cut around the octagonal design before they were sold.
Few quality examples were produced from the printing process in the first place.
Learn more about this stamp in our blog.
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