A complete set of 27 Kuwait 1923 1/2a-15r King George V, "KOWEIT" overprint essays has sold for $32,500 at Robert A Siegel.
The lot led the Worldwide Stamps and Postal History Auction in New York on November 18-19.
 The essays display the old spelling of Kuwait |
Siegel commented: "Produced in early 1923, these were prepared prior to adopting the name change from "Koweit" to "Kuwait" for postal purposes and making it more accurate to the pronunciation in Arabic…
"No more than 17 are believed to be in private hands and there is a good chance that less are available to collectors today.
"Many sets have also been broken down and few complete sets remain. This particular set has not been offered in over 40 years."
A Kuwait 1948-1949 3a on 3p violet pair with one surcharge albino also sold well, achieving $16,500 against a $5,500 estimate - an increase of 200%.
The ink is missing on the lower left hand surcharges.
The lot is one of five original error sheets, three of which the regional post office failed to notice and used.
This example is the larger of the two remaining and is considered one of the great British Commonwealth rarities.
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