Harman Patil (Editor)

Tapling Collection

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Housed at
  
British Library

Curators
  
Paul Skinner

Tapling Collection

The Tapling Collection was donated to the British Museum from the estate of Thomas Tapling in 1891.

The probate value of the Tapling collection was set at £12,000 but on arrival Richard Garnett (assistant keeper of Printed Books) estimated their value at more than £50,000 and described the bequest as the most valuable gift since the Grenville Library in 1847 (equivalent to £24,000,000 in 2011).

It is held in the Philatelic Collections of the British Library and selected items are on permanent public exhibition.

Highlights

The collection features these rarities:

  • Gold Coast: 1883 (May) 1d on 4d magenta, unique
  • Great Britain: 1858-79 1d red, plate 77, one of a few known
  • Hawaii: 1851-52 2 cents to 13 cents (both types), the "Missionaries"
  • India: 1854 4 annas blue and pale red, error head inverted, two used on a cover, unique
  • Mauritius: 1847 1d red used on cover and 2d blue, the "Post Office" issue
  • Spain: 1851 2 reales, error of colour, one of three known
  • Switzerland: Zurich: 1843 4 rappen, the unique unsevered horizontal strip of five
  • Uruguay: 1858 120 centavos blue and 180 centavos green, in tête beche pairs, two of five known
  • Western Australia: 1854-55 4d blue, error frame inverted

    • References

    Tapling Collection Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA