Rare Nearly Complete Coronation Robes 5/- To £1 (18 Of 19)

Below is a rare nearly complete set of Coronation Robes (minus the 1949 £1 thick Specimen (McCracken); all stamp magazines showing the "Robes" for sale, will show the 5/- both thick and thin paper, the 10/- both thick and thin paper and the £1 thick and thin paper. One would also see the 5/- with tinted paper and the 10/- Specimen (Ash), and of course the £1 Specimen (Ash).

What you won't see will be the McCracken 10/- and the McCracken £1 Specimens and the full collection of 19 "Robes" stamps. Earlier I showed a presentation of all my King George VI stamps with 17 of the "Robes" inclusive. The McCracken £1 "Robe" will complete the Coronation issues.

Below is a rare display of 18 of the 19 "Robes" in the best condition I can find to date, and any off centred stamps will eventually be replaced when a better issue is located.



ACSC 212A) 1938. Queen Elizabeth. 5s. Perforation 14 x 13½. Thick chalk surfaced paper. Sideways C of A watermark. Dull Lake (Ash)
ACSC 212B) 1938. Queen Elizabeth. 5/-. Perforation 14 x 13½. Thick chalk surfaced paper. Sideways C of A watermark. Brown-Lake (Ash)
ACSC 212C) 1938. Queen Elizabeth. 5/-. Perforation 14 x 13½. Thick chalk surfaced paper. Sideways C of A watermark. Reddish-Lake (Ash)
ACSC 213A) 1948. Queen Elizabeth. 5/-. Perforation 14 x 13½. Thin unsurfaced paper. Sideways C of A watermark. Tinted paper. Reddish-Lake (McCracken)
** The tinted paper comes from the first printing using the Ash plates, and waas caused by the use of an ink that was strongly absorbent, with the result that the paper became "tinted" in appearance.**
ACSC 213B) 1948. Queen Elizabeth. 5/-. Perforation 14 x 13½. Thin unsurfaced paper. Sideways C of A watermark. White paper. Brown-Lake (McCracken)



ACSC 214A) 1938. King George VI. 10/-. Perforation 14 x 13½. Thick chalky surfaced paper. Sideways C of A watermark. Dull Purple (Ash)
ACSC 214B) 1938. King George VI. 10/-. Perforation 14 x 13½. Thick unsurfaced paper. Sideways C of A watermark. Reddish-Purple (Ash)
ACSC 214B) 1938. King George VI. 10/-. Perforation 14 x 13½. Thick unsurfaced paper. Sideways C of A watermark. Reddish-Purple (Slight aniline quality) (Ash)
ACSC 214x) 1938. King George VI. 10/-. Perforation 14 x 13½. "SPECIMEN". Thick chalky surfaced paper. Sideways C of A watermark. Dull Purple (Ash)
ACSC 214x) 1948. King George VI. 10/-. Perforation 14 x 13½. "SPECIMEN". Thick chalky surfaced paper. Sideways C of A watermark. Deep Dull Purple (McCracken's usage of the Ash plates)
ACSC 215) 1948. King George VI. 10/-. Perforation 14 x 13½. Thin unsurfaced paper. Sideways C of A watermark. Deep Reddish Purple (Unlisted McCracken)
ACSC 215) 1948. King George VI. 10/-. Perforation 14 x 13½. Thin unsurfaced paper. Sideways C of A watermark. Deep Purple (McCracken)



ACSC 216A) 1938. King George VI. £1. Perforation 13½ x 14. Thick chalky surfaced paper. Sideways C of A watermark. Dull Blue (Ash)
ACSC 216A) 1949. King George VI. £1. Perforation 13½ x 14. Thick chalky surfaced paper. Sideways C of A watermark. Deep Dull Blue (McCracken's usage of the Ash plates)
ACSC 216B) 1938. King George VI. £1. Perforation 13½ x 14. Thick chalky surfaced paper. Sideways C of A watermark. Dull Blue (Ash)
ACSC 216x) 1938. King George VI. £1. Perforation 13½ x 14. "SPECIMEN". Thick chalky surfaced paper. Dull Blue (Ash)
ACSC 217) 1949. King George VI. £1. Perforation 13½ x 14. Thick chalky surfaced paper. Sideways C of A watermark. Pale Dull Blue (Unlisted McCracken using 1938 plates)
ACSC 217) 1949. King George VI. £1. Perforation 13½ x 14. Thin unsurfaced paper. Sideways C of A watermark. Dull Blue (McCracken)



CAVEAT EMPTOR ("Let the buyer beware")

NEVER purchase a £1 Specimen without a recognised certificate of authentication. Many dangerous forgeries exist. The certificate must be included and easily read, as the picture on the certificate should be the actual photo of the stamp for sale (check and see if the perforations match, and the centring of the design the same, as well as the overprint). The Ceremuga certificate shown is an authentic certificate of the £1 Specimen above.

A beautiful set of stamps, Rob. And some good advice that previously I would not have bothered with.

Very impressive, especially the two lower denominations are stellar!


Peter

Hi Itma


They are a very beautiful and very hard to obtain set (took a few years). I have heard people lose a lot of money on forged £1 Specimens, and I thought if I added some advice on what to watch for and how to identify a fake to a cut and paste certificate it might save potential buyers a lot of money.

The £1 Specimen is rare and set me back just short of $2,000; imagine how devastated the person would be if they bought a dud.

Although I have nothing against ebay and a good bargain can be obtained for cheaper stamps, it is notorious for forgeries, and there has been a few £1 Specimen forgeries seen on ebay.

Rob

Thanks Peter.They are indeed, I reckon the £1 stamps are very intricate and precise, the master engraver for all these stamps was Frank Manley.

Hopefully I will be able to find the second £1 specimen, the 1949 MacCracken printing of which less than 200 were printed.

Rob