Do you ever wonder what could have been?

We've all been there... reflecting on a decision taken and what the life-changing consequences might have been had we opted for the alternative. It's our 'Sliding Doors' or 'Road not Taken' moment.

Today, I'm going to give you the chance to make an important investment decision that in itself was at the centre of a critical choice in May 1840 that revolutionised the way we communicate for the best part of 150 years.

I want to share with you a remarkable and intricate item. It's not just a very special investment piece, it also captures the spirit of imagination.

Before I share details of this item, I just want you to imagine that you have never seen a stamp before. Now imagine trying to come up with a system for pre-paid postage. This was the situation faced by the British Government in the late 1830s.

Before 1840, letters were paid for by the recipient rather than the sender and were charged according to the distance the letter had travelled, along with the number of sheets of paper it contained. Corruption plagued this system though and it was seen as expensive and confusing. So a system of pre-payment by the sender was the logical way forward.

The item I am going to share with you today was a proposal put forward to address this. If it had been adopted then stamp collecting would have been very different indeed!

This rather beautiful item is a prized rarity of philately.

There are only two of these known that will ever be available on the open market. This is one of them.

Already captivated? Already willing to make that choice? Then email my team straight away at investment@stanleygibbons.com or call 0845 026 7170

This is an embossed Treasury essay from 1839. An essay is a design that has been submitted for a stamp, but not adopted for use. ‘Treasury essay’ refers to any of the proposed designs submitted to the competition organised by the British Treasury in 1839.

The competition invited artists, scientists and the general public to submit ideas and designs for stamped covers and adhesive labels.

Awards of £200 and £100 (princely sums back then!) were offered for the two best proposals. Over 2,600 suggestions were submitted, but only a small number related to adhesive postage stamps, and it fell to Rowland Hill to assess them and make his recommendations.

No submission was ideal, however, although aspects from a number of them were subsequently incorporated by Hill into his own scheme.

Many of the entries have since been lost, destroyed or are now prized pieces in museum collections, which makes this particular item especially rare and collectible.

The delicate Treasury essay was put forward with the idea of filling two roles. Firstly, to act as a method of prepayment and secondly, to replace the wax seals used on envelopes.

I think this is a strikingly beautiful piece.

Yet its real beauty lies in its rarity - only six of these were ever created. If it was a car, it would be selling for millions.

Owning one of only six in existence puts you in a very exclusive club... but it's better than that. The Queen owns four of them (and they will remain in the Royal Philatelic Collection) and the other one has not been seen since an auction in 1934.

That means you'll be the only person to have bought one of these this century and one of only three people to own one - just you, the Queen and a mystery third person or institution (that's if the 1934 example hasn't since perished).

The term “history in your hands” is frequently used by journalists when writing about the unique items we offer and it's certainly true to this item.

This ‘stamp’ takes you back to a time when Britain was undergoing a period of industrial, cultural, political, scientific and military change and sweeping across the globe as a result. This one item and the reformation that it represents brims with history in its one square inch.

If you want to be the envy of collectors and join the Queen in being one of the elite few to own this beautiful item, you need to contact us immediately. It is available to you for £75,000.

As Robert Frost wrote in his famous poem, ‘Road not Taken’

“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less travelled by,
And that has made all the difference.”

Here is your chance to make a difference to your investment portfolio.

Call my team on 0845 026 7170 (UK) or +44 1481 708 270 (Int) today. Alternatively, email us on investment@stanleygibbons.com.

You won't get another chance at this.

Best Wishes,

Keith Heddle Investment Director Stanley Gibbons Group Plc

PS. If you're not quick enough to secure the 1839 Treasury essay, then you may be interested in another essay we have available. It may not be quite as unusual to look at, but its investment performance is proven.

This is a 2d red-brown example of an extremely rare trial printing of which only 24 examples were originally printed, eight of which reside in the Royal Philatelic Collection. The trial revolved around the idea of printing stamps on “Dickinson” paper, which has “silk” threads embedded in it.

The catalogue that lists these essays is printed every 2 or 3 years. Just look at the prices of this stamp over the last few years:

2004: £8,500
2006: £22,000
2008: £55,000

You can get the item for £55,000 today. A little heads up for you - the catalogue that lists this item is due for publication at the end of this year. What price will this essay be listed at then?