Tobago 1879 £1 mauve, watermark CC, SG6.
A brilliant quality mint example with large part original gum. Typical centring for this issue but wonderfully fresh and rarely seen so fine. Choice quality for this key stamp.
A key high-denomination rarity from the island of Tobago.
The £1 Tobago (SG6) is one of the rarest and most sought-after colonial key plate high values of the British Empire.
Most surviving examples are fiscally used; mint examples with gum are notably scarce.
Signed Champion and Bloch.
Accompanied with a British Philatelic Association (BPA) Certificate of Authenticity (1977).
Previously handled and sold by stamp dealers, Stanley Gibbons. The SG catalogue price is £4,500.
The island of Tobago, part of the British West Indies, issued its first stamps in 1879, following its transition to a Crown Colony. Prior to this, Tobago had no independent issues, and local postal needs were served irregularly. The £1 value represented an extraordinarily high denomination at the time, intended primarily for revenue or fiscal purposes and for rare cases of large bulk postal transactions.
This issue is one of the iconic key stamps of Tobago, and of British Colonial philately more broadly. The design follows the classic Key Plate system devised by De La Rue, featuring the diademed head of Queen Victoria in profile within a decorative engine-turned frame, inscribed TOBAGO at the top and ONE POUND at the base.
Printing & Production
Printer: De La Rue & Co., London.
Process: Surface-printed using the Key Plate method (a standard frame plate combined with interchangeable country/value tablets).
Paper: Watermarked Crown CC (Crown and “CC” — Crown Colonies).
Perforation: Comb perforated (14).
Colour: Distinctive mauve shade, prone to fading in poor storage — examples retaining full freshness, as here, are greatly prized.
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