2017-06-16 Fri

A rare 1936 Australian stamp honouring new King Edward VIII is being offered at an auction from Mossgreen on 26th June. The stamp was withdrawn even before it was ever issued.

There were three kings in 1936. King George V had died on 20th January and was succeeded by his eldest son King Edward VIII. Edward VIII was in love with American divorcee Wallis Simpson, due to which he was abdicated on 11th December so that he could get married without any problems. His younger brother Albert became King George VI.

When the Australian government was about to release stamps honouring King Edward, he stepped down from his throne and the stamps were never issued. Nevertheless, run of stamps already printed.

The printer gifted Lord Huntingfield, the governor of Victoria the 2-penny Scarlet King Edward VIII stamps. He was later asked to return the stamps. 6 of them were removed and sent back. All other stamps and related artefacts were destroyed. 60 years later, a corner block of four was auctioned in 2014. Two stamps were missing this time.

One of them sold in 2016 for $172,912 AUS. The second one with two attached stamp-size pieces of perforated blank margin in a vertical strip will be auctioned this time, described as “hinged at the base of the margin only otherwise unmounted.”