1916 Typewritten 1/- black (top impression) on thin horizontally laid paper (SG 20 & 20var). VF unused left marginal vertical pair (top stamp with creasing), huge margins all round. VARIETY "SEMI-COLON" FOR "COLON" at upper left on top stamp. An exceptional representation of these rare stamps of which only 96 examples were printed and just 32 unused are known. Other than a single surviving sheet of 16, this is the only recorded multiple. Photo-cert: Eichele BPB: "An exceedingly rare pair with only 32 remaining unused of the 96 produced. These 32 include a sheet of 16 surviving. Possibly the only surviving pair, more so with the error." See additional image and of certificate below.
This was the Turkish island of Keustan in the Gulf of Smirna (today Izmir). This Island was occupied by the Royal Navy in April 1916 and the civil administrator Lieuteant-Commander H. Pirie-Gordon (1863-1969) created these stamps for the postal inauguration on the 7 May 1916.
