;) ;) | INCORRECT VICTORIAN GRAMMAR on PREPARATION PROOF SHEET with UNISSUED VERTICAL LINED PAPER 1866 QV 1d pale rose INLAND REVENUE on unissued vertical laid paper, a generally fine and fresh IMPERFORATE complete sheet of twelve stamps showing the two units of six stamps laid down but BADLY ALIGNED within the full marginal inscriptions including One Penny Each - One Shilling per Sheet. at base (changed on issued sheets) on gummed paper sheet numbered 256 at top left. Trace of rusty paper clip at top which probably had a note attached re the two corrections required. Some slight creasing. Note: The initial delivery is thought to be Sheets 1 to 250 making a total of 3,000 stamps being issued on horizontal laid paper with base inscription reading One Penny each - One Shilling per Sheet. - the change from Each to each being made at preparation stage due Victorians being fussy about incorrect grammar. Only three imperforate sheets (numbered 256,257,258) are currently known with the original "Each" setting, and each showing differing adjustments to the lining up of the two units. Morley in 1910 reported the existence of these stamps on vertical laid paper but both Britnor (1965) and Robson Lowe (1990) were unable to confirm their existance in their handbooks. Sheets 251 to 260 are therefore printer’s unissued preparation sheets. The "Each" error was not noticed by philatelists until 2001 (135 years later!). £1500 |