Poineering penny stamp sent to Capital law firm fetches £2500

An envelope with a rare one penny stamp used to send a letter to a law firm in Edinburgh in 1850 has been sold for £2500 at auction.

The post, sent to Messrs Gibson Craig & Co at 5 Thistle Street is particularly valuable because it features one of the first perforated postage stamps.

It is also thought to be one of the first of its kind to be sent to Edinburgh.

The tell-tale January 1850 postmark on the envelope confirms the stamp is one of the very first Archer Perforations, and that it was used in the first month of its introduction.

It was sold to a mystery bidder at auctioneer Spink in Bloomsbury, London.