Lot 180 Australia - Victoria SG#314c (SC# 162) 2d Purple , 1886-1896 Reading Design Stamp Duty Issue, A Fine Used Single, Blue #390 Barred Numeral Cancel For Rocky Lead, Later Renamed Rocklyn

A fine used single of the 2d purple from the 1886-1896 Reading Design Stamp Duty Issue, blue #390 barred numeral cancel for Rocky lead, later renamed Rocklyn.

By the late 1880's & 1890's, local alluvial gold mining had largely dried up, and so daily mail volume had shrunk to a trickle, making this cancel scarce in this peroid. The blue ink makes it exponentially scarcer as a clerk had to borrow a different ink pad to strike the letter as all gov't issued ink pads were black.

Gibbons doesn't list this variety, so we estimate it at $95. The stamp offered here grades 70 as follows:

Centering/Margins: 30/60

Paper Freshness: 5/5

Colour: 5/5

Impression: 5/5

Absence of Visible Paper Flaws: 5/5

Perforations: 10/10

Cancellation: 10/10