Great Britain 1882 £5 orange Plate 1 (blued paper) Specimen, SG133.
A very fine well centred unused example with original gum overprinted "SPECIMEN" type 9.
A scarce Specimen example of Britain's boldest stamp for distribution to members of the Universal Postal Union, serving as official reference examples rather than postal issues.
GB Specialised Catalogue No: J128s.
SG Catalogue Value: £3,000.
Because of the high face value, there was no postal need for this stamp issue. It was first introduced as a Telegraphs stamp to account for payment of bulk telegrams and for those of individual high cost.
Telegraphs were withdrawn in 1881 and the same plate design was adapted for use as a postage stamp, but postal packages that warranted a £5 stamp were obviously going to be very few and far between.
