Robert A Siegel is to hold a large and diverse sale that contains an interesting assemblage of desirable stamps and covers from around the world. One of the most interesting philatelic items that will be offered during this sale is 1/2a blue 1852 Scinde Dawk – one of the rarest unused stamps of India of which only a few are believed to exist. Featuring bold color and impression, as well as couple light surface marks the lot is estimated at £50,000 (or roughly $65,434). The auction will take place on December, 2018.
1/2a blue Scinde Dawk was issued first, on July 1, 1852. However, the stamps were so fragile that they easily cracked and disintegrated, since they were often used as a seal on a letter, many were destroyed when the letter was opened. The red stamps were issued first; the blue stamps were released later. These stamps are found in several shades of blue and they were the last version issued shortly before the Scinde Dawks were withdrawn from use. The "Scinde Dawk" name is simply because they were used in the Sindh Province and the word "Dawk" is an anglicized spelling of the Hindustani word for "Post". Although these stamps were quite common and widely used at that time, very few examples are now known to exist, giving 1/2a blue 1852 Scinde Dawk stamp the status of being very rare.
