Great Britain 1882 ½d-1s Temporary Unified Series Essays (Set TL), SG157/170var

The superb unused, with original gum, set of ten comb perforated 14 essays (except the ½d, 4d & 1s which are imperforated) printed in purple on Crown watermarked paper without surcharge.

This magnificent exhibition item is one of the great rarities of GB philately. Only eight sets were originally produced, seven of them overprinted in black with their respective face values.

Provenance: Ex. Largentiere Maximus, Dr. Douglas Latto.

Stanley Gibbons catalogue value: £135.000.

Because of complaints from Postmasters about the difficulty in distinguishing between different values of the current issues, it was proposed that a provisional issue be made by surcharging these stamps, each with its own face value in large figures.

The printers, Thomas De La Rue submitted the set overprinted in black with their respective face values on 4th May 1882. In the event, only the 3d on 3d and 6d on 6d were issued as Temporary Unified stamps on 1st January 1883.