1876-79 6d green, wmk CC, perf 14, brilliant o.g. Scarce so fine.

1887 (MY 13) mourning cover from Lagos to Italy, franked at 8d double rate by 1884-86 4d pale violet vertical pair, tied by fine strike of 9-bar oval obliterator (thinner bars - earliest recorded date), with legible despatch cds at foot and red Liverpool entry cds (8 JU 87) at upper left. Firenze arrival backstamp of '11 6 87'. Red crayon '6' on face indicates amount due to U.K. Minor toning but a scarce and attractive cover to an unusual destination.

SPERATI FORGERY of the 1884-6 2s6d olive-black, in the form of acolour 'die proof' on wove (50x65mm). Also three similar items in black on surfaced wove comprising 1) the complete design in black 2)the value tablet 3)the undenominated master 'die', each signed below in pencil by the master forger, with violet H/S 'REPRODUCTION INTERDITE' above. The first three items have the BPA 'SPERATI REPRODUCTION' H/S on the reverse, the final item is mounted on brown card. A rare and fascinating group, virtually impossible to duplicate.

1884-86 2s6d to 10s, opt 'SPECIMEN', large part o.g. 10s with odd shortish perfs, still a fine set, much fresher than usually found. (cat £425).

SPERATI FORGERY of the 1884-6 10s purple-brown, in the form of a colour 'die proof' on wove (50x65mm) Also three similar items in black on surfaced wove, comprising 1)the complete design in black 2) the value tablet 3) the undenominated master 'die', each signed below in pencil by the master forger, with violet H/S 'REPRODUCTION INTERDITE' above. The first three items have the BPA 'SPERATI REPRODUCTION' H/S on the reverse, the final item is mounted on brown card. A rare and fascinating group, virtually impossible to duplicate.

1904 5s green and blue, wmk CA, fresh large part o.g. Only 1680 issued.

1899 Stampless cover to Kent, 'Robertson' correspondence, endorsed at upper right 'No stamps obtainable/Jebba-Nigeria/C. C. Robertson/Capt. R. A./WAFF'. On reverse very fine type 4 'BURUTU' boxed ds (seriffed caps) in violet, dated '17 OCT 1899', and arrival cds (NO 10 99). On face, due marks 'T 2/10 cts' in GREEN crayon (with '2' deleted and corrected to '1' in pencil) and 1D/520' London tax H/S, with London transit cds. A splendid campaign cover from what was soon to become Northern Nigeria, particularly dramatic with the GREEN crayon tax mark.

1898 (25 Dec) stampless cover from an officer of the West Africa Frontier Force in the northern Borgu province to his wife in Surrey, endorsed 'No stamps available/J. Gillespie/Capt/WAFF/Illo 25/12/98', with superb strike of type 4 'BURUTU' boxed ds (seriffed caps) in deep violet below, dated '5 FEB 1899' (applied in transit) and showing 'PAQUEBOT/LIVERPOOL' entry cds (FE 26 99) and 'd1' tax mark on face. Camberley arrival backstamp of following day. A superb and rare cover, mentioned in Ince & Sacher, p.502, and 'posted' on the day of introduction of 'Empire Penny Postage', although that would have meant little in remote Illo !

1895 (Nov 26) 1d red OIL RIVERS postcard (opt on GB), datelined 'C.M.S. Obosi, Onitsha', used to Tonbridge, Kent, showing on face very fine strike of SG type 4 'AKASSA' framed datestamp (11 DEC 95) in violet, with red 'PAID/LIVERPOOL/BR PACKET' entry cds alongside and the stamp impression cancelled by bold '466' numeral. Slight toning (and trivial creasing) but an attractive and very rare 'missionary' usage from the interior, Onitsha being close to Abutshi and Asaba. Documented in Ince and Sacher, p. 130.