81 " " 2,000 " 693.
108 " " 6,000 " 2,568.

All these stamps were printed by hand on coloured paper in sheets of
thirty-two impressions in four rows of eight stamps. An unused copy of
the 81 paras has fetched as much as £350.

[Illustration:]

United States, Millbury, 1847, 5 c.--In the United States the general
adoption of postage stamps was preceded by what may be termed
preliminary issues, of a more or less local character, and known as
"Postmaster stamps." These "Postmaster stamps" were issued by various
country postmasters by way of experiment. The Providence stamp is the
commonest example. One of the rarest is the 5 c. stamp, with a
portrait of Washington, issued by the postmaster of Millbury, in
Massachusetts, in 1847. This stamp is said to be worth about £300.
There are others reputed to be equally rare. Among the local stamps
issued by various unofficial carriers and express agencies, there are
many of which very few copies are known, and as they are practically
all held by enthusiastic collectors, and never come into the market,
there are no data as to their current value.

[Illustration:]

Cape of Good Hope, 1861. _Errors of Colour_.--In making up the plate
of a provisional issue of triangular stamps, pending the arrival of
supplies from England, a stereo of the 1d. got inserted by mistake in
the 4d. plate, and a 4d. in the 1d. plate. Consequently each sheet of
the 1d. contained a 4d. printed in red, the colour of the 1d., instead