Description:

1887 Queen Victoria Black on Coloured Papers ½d black/mauve over-stamped with 1902-05 1d black/pale green - torn before being affixed - plus South Australia 1885 'V R' Perf 12 ½d green & 1d green all tied by multiple strikes of a very large but largely indistinct 'SPENCER ST' cancel in blue. A truly extraordinary combination franking with all stamps cancelled in Melbourne indicating that the Victorian Railways had a stock of South Australian (and NSW?) stamps at their Head Office for pre-payment of inter-Colonial/State fees.

This is as new a discovery as we could offer. On the day the final editing was being done, a local gentleman who is "down-sizing" arrived at our office with all manner of family correspondence and artefacts. With nothing like this in Amitabh Chand's collection, we thought it would benefit all parties if we were able to squeeze it into this sale.