| Show FOR fon A POSTAGE r STAMP STAIT A london collector pays this enormous sum for a rare specimen from mauritius when the famous id 30 cent baltimore ope one ot of the rarest american stamps was sold jr in new mew york a few years ago for WHO people marveled at any one paying such guch an enormous sum tor for a mere postage stamp yet a specimen men from rom the island of 0 mauritius has haa just been purchased by a a prominent london collector for or the sum ot of this Is undoubtedly tho the highest price ever paid tor for any single specimen and Is a fact that hlll III be hailed with surprise in evory every civilized country in the world frequently rare stamps are sold in this country and europe tor for 1000 arid and upward but never before has the settler selling price 0 of the scarcest varieties touched the mark the stamp in question was found in the colony early last winter it Is on the original envelope and ana Is very lightly cancelled and maille a number of 0 others are in existence this Is admitted to bo be the finest specimen en that has ever been discovered ipg ari the zand island 0 f mauritius from which these renown renowned e d stamps were issued Is a small english colony about 1000 miles olt off the east coast ast 0 of africa separated irom from the main mal coland land by II 11 madagascar lt it ads was ivas among the he first biti british possessions to establish f a L P postal altal service chich aich datte back toi to i and the Posto Pos tonice face 4 N 0 the stamp as they are arc commonly called by philatelists constituted the first consignment sent ac nt to the colony they nire n ire re issued lit in two denominations one PI pinny ait 1 Y orange oranea and two pence blue the total tota 1 number printed being less than OLD 1000 in design they lire are very similar to the varly english issues Iss nea showing the head of 0 queen victoria to lor the lett left while at the top find and are the inscriptions posta postage Po ataee g and onn one pt il anny and at in the lett left arid anil right postoffice awl and 31 they a are re the baroo acme size alze its ft the abe ordin ordinary a ry to 1 sues ue of tho the united U statch llad had ai all ft f tho the amt consignment been used the would not nol CO MIlland such an eno enon noua rinous premium but tile records of 0 the sp chow 0 that tile majority wore deA destroyed troyed which accounts for or their ki 91 kiat at panty at the predent time the tha circumstances attending the tha do st ruction of 0 thye theme early mauritius stamps are interesting in I 1 if 1817 1847 the heads ot of departments civil servants and member mero oera of 0 the governors staff decided to give a ball in return for or a like entertainment held let d by some of 0 the officers of 0 her Maje twelfth regiment A tew few days before the invitations were nvere sent out a consignment ot of stamps were received in the colony tor for the postal service this of course was the first time postage stamps had ever been used there and the postmaster general who WEIS was chairman ot of the iho ball committee thought it pertinent to have tile the inai eions ranked franked with ith the new stamps in order to introduce them to the inhabitants this plan was carried out but the elie radical element which at the time predominated in the legislative counell council could riot not resist tile the temptation a 0 f gaining a point on tho the government house bous 0 and accordingly at th the next meeting of 0 council an order was passed that postage stamps were entirely unnecessary tor for so small a colony and that the elie stock on hand should bo be immediately destroyed thus the I 1 only specimens used use d were those 1 which I 1 leh ranked franked the invitations to the ball in IMS the following year a second consigli consignment ment 0 of stain stamps fis was forward forwarded td d to the mauritius government the need for a permanent system having been shown on all s sides des but theme them wore were slightly different from the first issue until 1878 it was thought that tho the two issues were sim similar ilax but in that year a prominent london collector in examining the records of 0 the colony and comparing specimens 0 of the two con sign ments discovered that tile the former laue issue bore bora the inscription Pot tollice while alle on oil those of 0 the seco second nd it was post paid thus they are arc referred to as the stamps Bt ainia which distinguishes them from the second is 19 mile KUC the issue ot of consisted of 0 tile same number us as that of ill the year p previous but all ot of them wole used and they are easily obtained compared with those thos e of tho the ima issue it la is generally cred credited eted that few it if any of 0 the post stamps were ere used except on tile ball invitations which numbered about zo tw there are ara numerous other coplea copies ot of the he Maurit mauritius lus stamps reposing in I 1 tho the big biff collections collect tona of europe about twenty tarn in all being known r rh a ps the best beat assortment Is in tile the P ot of M philip von of 0 ghosn collection la Is undoubtedly the lie largest at gest and most moat valuable in tile the world in it are arc tour four ol of these coveted treasures troi ure two of each cacti denomination tho the avery collection ot of Dir firmingham mingham contains cont alna two it a pair IS 1 held by bernichon of parts palto tile collections ot of more und and lill each aali c contain two and another pair la id to bo be found in the collect collection I 1 on now in the british museum in lon london don these with a single sang le specimen in the kirchner collection an and 1 I the one recently sold make sixteen n copies four more nrc re thought ough to bu be in ill existence resting re probably II io of other ler noted collect lobs tu ill auroro karop th they LY arc alo prized higher than the stamps of any other country and have been talked of ano and written sib about t lit in all corners of f the globe indeed lh ill u advertising they they hale rep reo wd w d bia h had bad much to do with tia pric to lila mark the history of the mauritius stamps and their notorious rise in yet value ile has long been an interesting sub subject RA to tho the first notable sale was made late in the seventies when a copy 0 f tho the one penny turning up in the colony brought its gallant under tinder the sum rum of later it was sold to mr air for or in 1830 1890 1000 was paid ila i d for or a specimen of oc the two pence on 0 n a small piece 0 of the original envelope shown in the london philatelic exhibition baitlon bit lon they li til ey were next heard 0 of in 1833 1893 when a a prominent Eng english liall arm see secured red an unused pair of the one penny penny and two pence for or which they paid and last as t vint 0 r two specimens ens were sold to a a parla paris dealer for 00 the specimen recently found by fax far the finest known was actually sold tor for the sum of 0 thus establishing a new record for or the most valuable u postage poa taffe stamp the condition of 0 this specimen was waa a potent factor actor in regulating its price as it lg Is perfect in every respect being of 0 good color and well preserved had it been torn or otherwise damaged it would not have brought anything like so high a price with a rare postage stamp as with nith a coin its value Is regulated ell cn dimly ly by its condition when the above specimen was discovered last winter it attracted the attention of collectors in all parts of the world and naturally has bee been n watched with a great deal of 0 interest t to see how big a price it would braag bring evidently the owner was fully advised re barding its value as lie offered it first for or the mdell sum skim ot of soo but found no one who preferred the stamp to this suta bum ot of money it was wae a foregone tore gono conclusion cl however that it wouldn would not 0 t go a begging especially as the en envelop ve lope bore the same flame handwriting as the he few others in existence establishing the tact fact that jt it was used at the same time in sending out one ot of the invitations to tile the boll ball five thousand dollars seems seeing like an enormous sum of monty money to pay for a postage stamp a in mere ere piece of paper and a small piece at a t that and yet when it la is considered cons de r ed that some of the wealthy philatelists s spend pend hundreds of thou thousand band of dollars on their hobby one collection in particular being valued at upa upward ax d of it Is not so important tant a matter a t to these people as it would bo to MATTHEW 11 copyright asis IS by the international literary Lille 1 kail I news Seri cj |
