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Auction: 25027 - Stamps and Covers of Great Britain
Lot: 2370

Great Britain
1840 Two Pence Blue
The Only Known Two Pence Blue Bisect from the Shetlands
1842 (28 March) entire letter from West Sandwick to Annsbrae, Lerwick bearing vertically bisected, left half lettered O[?], tied by black Maltese Cross, on receipt in Annsbrae, the cover was re-addressed to Cullivoe on Yell, with a further manuscript "1d." charge added - these both in the same, separate hand to the original sender. Two vertical folds well clear of the adhesive, otherwise fine and a remarkable rarity of exhibition calibre. B.P.A Certificate (1964), signed by Robson Lowe.

Notes: Rockoff and Jackson record only seven examples of the 2d. bisect, in use between 27 March, 1841 and 28 March 1842 which, it is believed, were the result of a shortage of the 1d. in particular locations.
Robson Lowe first reported the discovery of three such bisects in the January 1937 issue of the London Philatelist: "It is the 2d. blue 1840 bisected and used as 1d. Three copies have been discovered all used on large dated pieces on correspondence between Lincoln and Hull ... there was no official authorisation for the bisection of stamps, but the use of these bisects over so long a period as ten months proves conclusively that the postal authorities at Lincoln were quite willing to accept them. When Lowe came to auction them, he described them as comparable in rarity to the "U.S. 1847 10c. bisected, of which some seven copies are know."
This example was a later discovery, though Robson Lowe has signed the signature which accompanies the lot."

provenance:
H.O. Fraser, Spink, 7 November, where it sold for GBP £59,800
Harmers, January 1965

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Estimate
£20,000 to £25,000

Starting price
£16000