A 1906-1912 $500 Straits Settlement watermark multiple crown stamp will auction at Spink.
The lot is set to lead the Sentosa Collection of Straits Settlements, Malayan States, Labuan, North Borneo and Sarawak sale in Singapore on August 17.
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The Straits Settlements was the name the British East India Company used to describe a series of territories under its control in South Asia.
It became a crown colony in 1867 and began printing its own stamps. The region is now Malaysia and the independent city state of Singapore.
Spink describes the lot as "an extremely rare stamp of which we record only nine mint examples of which a corner plate number pair is in the Royal Collection.
"A major exhibition showpiece of the highest calibre."
It's expected to make $71,672-107,508.
A cover bearing an 1892-1894 3 cents on carmine-rose surcharge stamp is likely to prove another highlight, with a valuation of $43,000-57,334.
This is the only known used specimen of this particular issue, which Spink describes as "a magnificent exhibition centrepiece and one of the great rarities, not only of the Straits Settlements but also of later Queen Victoria period of the British Empire."
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