Item Description

A very good to fine example of an 1840 1d penny black on a cover postmarked October 14th 1840
While plating of the stamp is difficult, it is most likely to be plate 6, since there are no obvious flaws and the maltese cross cancellation mark is in black.
Colour is grey-black (probably SG2) with the cancellation being average to good.
Letters are C - L
All 4 margins are wide and regular

The Letter is addressed from Chester to Houlgrave & Co., Distillers of Tar & Turpentine, Hill Street, Harrington, Liverpool, requesting an order of barrels of tar to be sent by canal.On 07-Jan-17 at 20:18:56 GMT, seller added the following information:Update:One more knowledgeable than I assures me that the correct plate for this stamp is 1b.I had read somewhere that 1b stamps were only cancelled with red maltese crosses, but this seems not to be true.Indeed, the C-L stamp for the 1b plate is apparently illustrated in the SG specialised Queen Victoria catalogue, showing precisely the same re-entry mark in the NW corner which can be seen on my stamp.