BECHUANALAND
Bechuanaland Protectorate Stamps
BECHUANALAND PROTECTORATE  -  1932-1961 ISSUES
AB3135-7
THE THREE ITEMS OFFERED HERE REPRESENT AN ASTONISHING RECENT DISCOVERY OF MAJOR PHILATELIC RARITIES OF BECHUANALAND PROTECTORATE, AND INDEED OF THE BRITISH COMMONWEALTH.
 
This variety was originally discovered in the early 1980s when a block of four and a damaged pair were offered to and sold via the Salisbury Stamp Company in Rhodesia. It is understood those items were later offered by Sotheby’s London on their 12th November 1987 auction as lot 394. At that time, the variety was unlisted by Stanley Gibbons. They were offered with BPA certificates (1987) and formed the basis for the SG listing ‘SG 99a’.
 
For over thirty years the Salisbury block and damaged pair were the only recorded survivors of what is believed to be the single issued sheet originally containing ten possible examples of the imperforate between, horizontal pair varieties.
 
Judging by the nature of the damage to the original Salisbury pair and the rough separation evident on some of the others, it would appear most likely they were issued in the normal way, with some being used and discarded before discovery by an observant philatelically minded person. The six surviving examples of the variety, two pairs in a block of four, one damaged pair, the two fine mint pairs and the used pair offered here, are most likely the only survivors.
 
It would appear the two mint pairs offered here were originally joined (AB3135 above AB3136). They are shown here aligned to show the match of perforations. It also appears likely that AB3135 fits under the damaged Salisbury pair. That, and the similar extended perforations on both, strongly indicate they emanate from a single sheet.