A letter stamped with a Penny Black and cancelled with the latest-dated known example of a rare, handmade hand-stamp is for sale at a British collectibles company.
The latest known example of a Wotton-Under-Edge Maltese Cross cancellation is a “philatelic trophy” says Paul Fraser Collectibles, who are selling this 1841 letter.
In 1840, Great Britain pioneered the world’s first universal postal system, with the Penny Black stamp, the world’s first adhesive postage stamp, the receipt for payment.
From the off, the pioneers of postage were worried about fraud.
Complex stamp designs were meant to make forgery hard, and “cancellation” was a big part of the process. Once a stamp was paid for and posted, it needed to be put beyond use in some way. A cancellation stamp – a hand-stamp, wetted with ink, and pressed onto the stamp – marked it as out of circulation.
The first cancellation stamps were in the shape of a Maltese Cross. They were centrally made to a set design.
But, in the hustle and bustle of the real world, the hand-stamps were lost, damaged, or simply worn out. So, a network of post offices and post masters getting used to a new system improvised.
Mike Hall, CEO of Paul Fraser Collectibles, who are selling the 1841 Wotton-Under-Edge letter takes up the story.
“There were numerous local variations in cancellation stamps across the UK,” he says.
“The most famous comes from Wotton-under-Edge, a historic English market town near the Cotswolds in Gloucestershire.
“This highly distinctive cancellation has several deliberate cuts across it.
“And to collectors who specialise in this area, a Wotton-under-Edge Maltese Cross is considered a very rare and valuable thing.”
Clear and defined, these date stamps confirm the rarity of this remarkable survival. Image courtesy of Paul Fraser Collectibles.
The letter was posted on February 10, 1841, just as the Penny Black (and its accompanying black Maltese cross stamp was being withdrawn).
The stamp comes from Plate 5 of the 11 used to produce the around 68 million Penny Blacks printed.
It was stuck onto a letter to Bradley Barnard & Co., auctioneers and accountants in Bristol.
On the way it picked up its Wotton-under-Edge and Bristol circular date stamps for postage on February 10 and arrival on February 11.
Mr Hall adds: “As the important last recorded usage, this cover has been well-documented for decades.
“It’s illustrated in Rockoff & Jackson’s ‘Encyclopedia of the Maltese Cross’, the definitive work on the subject referenced by philatelists the world over.”
Mr Hall says the stamp has been worth as much as £28,000 and is still catalogued with a price tag of £20,000, significantly more than Paul Fraser Collectibles currently list it for.
The Wotton-Under-Edge last-recorded-use cover is listed at Paul Fraser Collectibles now.
