Two extremely rare Bermuda stamps from postmaster William Perot up for auction on Wednesday at London's famed Spink are expected to draw close to $200,000.

There are only 11 Perot stamps in the world, philatelist Dr. David Saul told so the two on the block from the Baron Stig Leuhusen Collection are hot items.

Having two such rare stamps auctioned from one collection is extraordinary, said Dr. Saul.

"The Queen has four of these stamps and she's not going to sell them but they'll stay in the monarchy," he said.

"You end up only having seven left around the world.

"They are a very rare Bermuda stamp."

The former Premier also owns two Perot stamps and he said in the philatelic world people know the provenance, or whose hands a stamp has passed through, which can affect stamp values significantly.

Once a collector passes away stamps are commonly auctioned off, he said.

The Swedish Baron whose collection goes on the block Wednesday once lived in Bermuda.

His two Perot stamps - a black 1849 valued between $84,784 and $101,740 and a red 1856 expected to sell for between $67,827 to $84,784 - will be in high demand.

The black stamp still on its original letter and the rare red stamp is on blue paper.

"The black 1849 stamp was torn and expertly repaired but the estimate is probably about right," said Dr. Saul.

"The red is probably not the best around because it has been badly cut with scissors. Some people just cut it and hacked it up.

"The neat thing about the black is it is on a piece of paper. For some reason in philatelic circles throughout the world it's really loved if it's `en pi?ce' or on a piece of paper.

"The red is very rare though because of its colour but also because this one has never been repaired."

Dr. Saul said postmaster William Perot introduced his own stamp as he was having trouble getting people to pay for their postage.

When the post office was closed a slot in the door allowed people to slip the mail through but often the correct sum of money was not left along with the post.

The letters were sent anyway to avoid punishing those who had paid but the postmaster would take the hit in his wages.

"It was to counter this fraud that in 1848 William Perot, postmaster at Hamilton, introduced his `stamps' by utilising datestamp impressions, with day and month slugs removed, struck on pieces of paper, endorsing them `One Penny' and with his signature," the Spink catalogue describing the sale explains.

Both rare Perots on the block feature the postmaster's signature.

Another interesting "en pi?ce" to be sold is the "Moncrieff" Cover dated 1875 that consists of three copies of the original stamp and on the original envelope.

It is also the only cover known to bear all three values of the issued stamps.

"One of the factors that also makes this so interesting is that Sir Henry Tucker once owned it," Dr. Saul said.

Sir Tucker also owned the red Perot stamp that Dr. Saul now has. He described it as "perfect".

"The black Perot stamp isn't the most rare stamp in the world but it is certainly famous," he said.