Lot #78 HALFPENNY COLOUR TRIAL: 1921 ½d perforated plate proof in lilac-brown on watermarked paper BW #66(PP)1, no gum, Cat $40,000. A great rarity and, in our opinion, one of the most outstanding KGV Head proofs. One of only two examples recorded. Ex the Estate of Ronald Harrison. Michael Drury Certificate (2015) as "red-brown". The ACSC states a change of colour from green to "warm plum" was approved on 16/12/1921, and that "the Stamp Printer supplied seven colour trials of the ½d in red-brown". A c

Description:

HALFPENNY COLOUR TRIAL: 1921 ½d perforated plate proof in lilac-brown on watermarked paper BW #66(PP)1, no gum, Cat $40,000. A great rarity and, in our opinion, one of the most outstanding KGV Head proofs. One of only two examples recorded. Ex the Estate of Ronald Harrison. Michael Drury Certificate (2015) as "red-brown".

The ACSC states a change of colour from green to "warm plum" was approved on 16/12/1921, and that "the Stamp Printer supplied seven colour trials of the ½d in red-brown". A colour-change for the ½d didn't actually occur until October 1923 and "the red-brown colour was allocated to the 2d stamp". This last statement suggests that the 2d was to be issued in the same shade as these colour trials. However, the shade here is nothing like the "red-brown" of the 1923 2d. At first glance, it is most like a 4½d pale violet. What this indicates is that colour descriptors need to be carefully assessed.