Stanley Gibbons sells rare Indian stamp for record price

Stamp specialist Stanley Gibbons has sold one of the rarest pieces of Indian philately to a private collector-investor in Australia for a record £500,000.

The company said the strip of four 1948 Gandhi 10 rupee Purple-Brown and Lake 'SERVICE' stamps is considered the most important and desirable item of post-1947 Indian philately, with only single examples otherwise recorded in private hands.

Stanley Gibbons sold one of these singles for £160,000 to a client in Uruguay last year.

Only two sheets of 50 stamps originally received the 'SERVICE' overprint, of which one remains intact in the Delhi Postal Museum. From the issued sheet, supplied to the Governor-General's Secretariat, only thirteen single examples are authoritatively recorded, including this strip of four and a block of four in the Royal Philatelic Collection, owned by HM Queen Elizabeth II, which is believed to be the world's largest and most valuable private stamp collection.

Keith Heddle, managing director of investments at Stanley Gibbons, said: "The market for high-quality Indian rarities has been strong for several years and is supported by the on-going desire of the wealthy, Indian diaspora and savvy international clients to own these historic assets. Given Stanley Gibbons' specific expertise, we are best placed to identify, authenticate and trade rare Indian stamps of the highest quality."

At 0953 BST, the shares were up 4.6% to 9.02p.