1911 Coronation Day 1d Red, Westminster Abbey CDS

22nd June 1911 Coronation Day - 1d Red with Westminster Abbey CDS. Superb strike of this very rare cancellation on an unaddressed cover. £3750 Booth catalogue value.

The first George V definitives, known as the Downey Head, were based on a three-quarter profile photograph of the King taken by court photographers W. & D. Downey. Printed by Harrison and Sons, the ½d is set in a Dolphin frame & 1d a Lion.

They were released on 22^nd June 1911, the day of the coronation. There was a postmark facility available at Westminster Abbey which had been specifically requested by the King as his father’s coronation in 1902 had had the same facility. The office was really for telegrams and was erected high up in the North Triforium. There was also a similar facility in the South Transept which was officially for the press, but some stamp collectors took advantage and produced an incredibly rare first day cover. There were two postmarks available depending on which facility you used, differentiated with ‘A’ & ‘B’ inscribed above the date.

This postmark is one of the rarest GB first day cover out there as it was only available on that day, reportedly open for just three hours. Tony used to call this the rarest of GB covers; and even he only ever saw a couple in his 40+ years of dealing.