Lot 1012
SOUTH AFRICA 1949 SGO34var Official

Stamps & Covers of the World | S25003
Auction: 16 April 2025 at 10:30 BST
£252
Description
Official. 1949-50 "Set 23" 1½d "dull ochre and and dull bluish slate", SG type O2 opt with 16.5mm spacing but APPLIED HORIZONTALLY, horizontal pair, mint, fine unmounted o.g. Long considered to be of clandestine origin (and therefore omitted from the Union Handbook), but not improbably a genuine error, of which only one sheet (with Cyclometer number "7904") existed. Footnoted in "Part I" (after SG O35) as of unclear status, but listed more fully by Murray Payne as CW O19b, and Hisey & Matheson p. 71 as "O120A". A spectacular and intriguing item, the only South African Official with horizontal opt. Briefmarkenprufstelle Basel cert (2004) as Bridger & Kay (= CW) O19b.
Footnote
Ex Matheson

