Great Britain Queen Victoria Surface Printed 1888 £1 brown lilac (watermark, Three Orbs), SG186.
Very fine and fresh used example lettered FB, neatly cancelled by crisp blue Manchester "498" numeral.
A lovely example of this difficult to find high value stamp rarely seen with a coloured cancellation.
The £1 brown-lilac stamp is a heavyweight of British philately. The Long One Pound stamp is a stunning feature of Great Britain’s postal history. They are widely adored amongst collectors, but outside the financial reach of many because they are so rare and valuable.
The unique horizontal format caused a great stir at the time when it was first issued in 1884. These surface-printed stamps were produced by the printers, Thomas De La Rue.
It has an ornate style with corner letters which are different for each stamp in the sheet, typical of the stamps in the reign, to deter forgers.
The December 1887 printing of the £1 brown-lilac included just 997 sheets and they were printed on Orbs paper in error. It was easier to let it be issued than try to call back the paperwork and accounts. The precise issue date is unknown.
As a result of concern about a photographic forgery of the £1 brown-lilac around the middle of 1890, it was decided to change to colour of the stamp to green.
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