Page 1 of 1

Rarity of 'Malformed Large 2' on King Edward 7th 2.5d (M16h)

Posted: Wed May 26, 2021 11:13 pm
by HeerbruggM8
Hello learned philatelists... I did a search of the site prior to this enquiry and found no information hence asking my question. I am curious as to how rare the M16h variety (Malformed Large 2) is on the De La Rue, blue, 2 1/2d Edward 7th issue? I was fortunate to stumble across one recently on E-bay and have seen none since and wondered whether this is truly rare, or one of those varieties that everyone manages to secure to lurk in the depths of their stock books.
I'd appreciate your thoughts as I'm somewhat of a newbie in the realms of philately. Thank you for your time,
H

Re: Rarity of 'Malformed Large 2' on King Edward 7th 2.5d (M16h)

Posted: Thu Aug 25, 2022 9:30 pm
by HeerbruggM8
I had no response on this and as a result I e-mailed my enquiry to Alan Vaughan (the GBPS Ed VII specialist) who kindly responded very quickly stating:

"I have never seen one of these varieties, nor the variety line under bottom frame-line. However I don't spend time on ebay looking; I am obviously missing out."

As such whilst it had not been previously seen, it may purely be that this was due to not looking for it!

Anyway I thought I'd put this on in case anyone has the same enquiry, and thanks to Alan for his timely response.
All the best,
H

Re: Rarity of 'Malformed Large 2' on King Edward 7th 2.5d (M16h)

Posted: Fri Aug 26, 2022 2:30 pm
by Mike Jackson
A bit more information: The variety was first listed in the 9th edition of the SG Specialised Catalogue in 1993. Reg Powell had this vertical pair in his collection showing co-extensive rules, so must be Plate 11/210 or 12/211 (this could well be the piece that SG based its listing on). Michael Astley doesn't appear to have had one (I couldn't find one in his 'Aurelius' sales at Grosvenor) and neither does Chartwell.

Although the 2½d doesn't have controls, nevertheless the bottom of the sheet is probably more collected because of the plate markings. So I believe varieties elsewhere on the sheet are going to be less frequently encountered.
KEVII 2½d M16h Reg Powell.jpg

Re: Rarity of 'Malformed Large 2' on King Edward 7th 2.5d (M16h)

Posted: Fri Aug 26, 2022 9:20 pm
by HeerbruggM8
Thanks very much for this information Mike, I appreciate the time, it looks like its not that common, although saying that I do now have two examples of the variety from the last ~5 years of scouring E-bay every evening for items of interest. I have put in a new scan of both my examples side by side for reference, for anyone who is interested.

Thanks again for your time and knowledge,
H