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Outer 1834 from Hastings addressed to Duke of Sutherland, Bridgewater House, London, with Hastings Penny Post 2 line in black (type 3/25 £60). As it was not signed, it has been stamped with "To Pay 1d Only" boxed in black (type 1A/19 - £50), and has been stamped with "No.1". Backstamped by Hastings single arc CDS dated JY 23 1834. Cracking item!!
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Letter Card 1903 London post with 1d red KEVII letter card (type 36/1 issue as per Brightmore "Postal Stationery of Great Britain"). Front has London W dated CDS dated FE 19 03 3:15PM code 3, with London SW times postamrk on back - FE 19 03 3:45PM. Inside is a Devonshire St CDS dated FE 19 03 codes P W. Contents are a sign of those times - friend sending a fiend a letter reminding him that he is still alive and that he wants to hear back from him!
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Italy - massive parcel piece from Italy to Mildura "Contains Mineral sample for gift". Contains 7 copies of SG2896 the €2,80 Lace Making Textile stamps, plus 12 x €3,00 SG2742, and a block of 10 of the €0,02 Women in Art issue SG2706. Face Value of stamps is €55,80, cat value is £150. A bit battered, but an impressive high postage value parcel front.
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The Greek Post Office (ELTA) decided to copy what Australia did, and issue an "Instant" digital print stamp for every Olympic medal winner. In fact the design is VERY similar to the Australian issues. Like Australia, at a later date, offset copies were also printed of medal winner stamps. This idea proved a great success in Greece, and the general public were the ones out there buying these issues for patriotic reasons etc. Only a small % of those will ever re-enter the stamp market. The controversial stamp was issued to honor Leonidas Sampanis, the Bronze Medal winner in weightlifting in the 62 kilo weight class. Sampanis won his medal on Monday 16 August and the stamps were on sparing sale in limited offices starting Tuesday August 17. Sampanis later failed his drug test (twice) and on Sunday 22 August the IOC stripped him of his medal. Consequently, on Sunday August 22, ELTA ordered that all remaining stamps be taken off sale nationally and immediately returned to their central office and NONE were to be sold. I bought one of these sheets in 2004 from a local dealer, and paid $500 for it - that seems more than a little above the odds when you look at what they are fetching on sites like Ebay. Comes with copies of the articles in Stamp News from the time for reference
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Free outer 1836 Ravenglass to London. "To Pay 1d Only" unframed in black (type 1A/20 £200). On reverse, Ravenglass Penny Post in red (type 3/26 £60), and rec mark in red dated AU 24 1836 Code G type 1/10. Signed E Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby, who was later a 3 time UK A rare and valuable piece of history