Letters Patent for Sale - Daniell

Spotted for sale on Ebay with a buy it now price of £750 (but also with a "Make me an offer" button") is the Letters Patent of the grant of arms to the descendants of Joseph Staines Daniell (petition by Edward Staines Daniell).

The buyer describes the item as:

"An interesting armorial sealed document on vellum dating from 1905 granting a coat of arms to the descendents of Joseph Staines Daniell. 

This is the original grant of arms from the College Of Arms in London to a family for which only ONE document will exist (one fears that the Great War would have interrupted the lineage of the family). The College Of Arms will not have a copy, but will have records of its issue.

It is written on vellum and has two Revenue stamps* of £5 stamped onto paper which has been attached to the vellum. At the bottom of the document are two impressed wax seals in protective cases which are attached by blue ribbon. Both wax impressions are good.

The condition of the document is generally ‘good’ condition with some evidence of use/age. The condition of the formed case is also ‘good’ with working latches with minor abrasion. The hinge to the case is good.

I’m not sure what one would do with this, but I guess you could impress friends by hanging it in your  bathroom. 

* Revenue stamps in the United Kingdom are very important for legal documents as they validate a document’s authenticity having been submitted to a Government department for ’stamping’ and the payment of a government fee. ‘Stamped’ documents are essentially registered and become legal documents by the addition of the tax stamp and can be used in Court. Because vellum will not accept an impressed Revenue Stamp, such stamps were impressed on paper (with a silver strand) and then attached to the vellum."

It's always quite sad when these documents leave the original family and I tend to agree with the vendor, unless you are a collector (in which case you've got the funds to be one) I'm not sure what you'd do with it. Still, compared to others on the market it is relatively cheap!