The David Feldman auction firm will conduct a three day sale on April 1-3 offering material of the British Empire. An earliest impression of 1848 Mauritius 1d orange block of six will be offered during the April 1 auction. This is the largest known multiple of the earliest impression and of the entire Post Paid issue. Considered as an outstanding item of phenomenal importance, the block is offered with an estimate of £80,000 to £100,000 (roughly $102,500 to $128,100 in mid-March).
The auction house described this outstanding lot as follows: “1d orange-vermilion, block of six, positions 1-6, good to very large all round except bottom left and right, all cancelled by rare blue numeral ‘1’ of Mahebourg and a portion of red London ds applied in transit, some usual toning, extraordinarily fine for such an important and large multiple, exhibition showpiece.”
The stamps in this block are each postmarked with the blue numeral 1 of Mahebourg, and the block is also struck with part of a red London datestamp applied in transit. Its rich bright shade clearly shows, amongst other characteristics of the earliest impression, the ‘sticky print’ and uneven inking of the beginning period. On the reverse of the block we can see the outline of the flap of the original envelope to which it had been affixed, which is therefore not a crease.
