Do any readers have philatelic expertise?

Or know anyone who does?

The item in the image above has me baffled.  I know with 100% certainty that it's not a postage stamp, a revenue, or a cut square from postal stationery, but I don't know what it is.

The corner letters are highly reminiscent of early British postage stamps, such as the Penny Black and Penny Reds.  The scrollwork in the bottom half is an elaborate "VR", which would certainly be "Victoria Regina" (Queen Victoria) - again suggesting 19th century Great Britain (or a British colony such as Australia/New Zealand).  Same with the crown.

But what is it?  The margins show partial frames of two adjacent items to the left and below, suggesting that it was cut and torn from a non-perforated sheet of presumably similar items.  The engraving is high quality, the paper is crisp and seemingly unwatermarked.  On the back is a hinge remnant, indicating that some philatelist had mounted it in an album.

It could be a simple "label" created for decorative or recreational purposes, or a "cinderella."  But I think it might be a die proof which was not successful in later becoming a stamp.

I'd welcome any insights from readers.

Addendum:  Andrew came up with the answer immediately.  See his comment.

Ceremonial helmet of Emperor Charles V (1540)

There is no more splendid example of European dress as high political propaganda than the ceremonial armor made for the Hapsburg Holy Roman Emperors Maximilian I and Charles V and for Charles’ son, Philip II of Spain. They employed the greatest sculptural metalworkers on the continent... Such armor was rarely intended as practical protection during battle; rather it had a starring role in parades, jousting tournaments and court rituals and was favored attire for official portraits.

This helmet was crafted by Desiderius Helmschmid and is now in the collections of the Patrimonio Nacional, Real Armería, Madrid.  Image via Uncertain Times.

A world-class sprinter decides to play rugby sevens

YouTube link.

Some may find this advice useful

Imgur source, via Reddit.

A gynandromorph lobster

For more information on gynandromorphs, see my previous posts here and here.

From imgur, via The Soul is Bone.

"Our banner in the sky"

A Civil War-era (1861) painting by famed landscape painter Frederic Edwin Church, currently in the Smithsonian American Art Museum, from the collection of Fred Keeler, via Salon.

The CIA confirms it overthrew Iran's Prime Minister, Mohammed Mosaddegh

Excerpts from an article at the National Security Archive:

Washington, D.C., August 19, 2013 – Marking the sixtieth anniversary of the overthrow of Iranian Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddeq, the National Security Archive is today posting recently declassified CIA documents on the United States' role in the controversial operation. American and British involvement in Mosaddeq's ouster has long been public knowledge, but today's posting includes what is believed to be the CIA's first formal acknowledgement that the agency helped to plan and execute the coup.

The explicit reference to the CIA's role appears in a copy of an internal history, The Battle for Iran, dating from the mid-1970s. The agency released a heavily
excised version of the account in 1981 in response to an ACLU lawsuit, but it blacked out all references to TPAJAX, the code name for the U.S.-led operation. Those references appear in the latest release. Additional CIA materials posted today include working files from Kermit Roosevelt, the senior CIA officer on the ground in Iran during the coup. They provide new specifics as well as insights into the intelligence agency's actions before and after the operation...

The issue is more than academic. Political partisans on all sides, including the Iranian government, regularly invoke the coup to argue whether Iran or foreign powers are primarily responsible for the country's historical trajectory, whether the United States can be trusted to respect Iran's sovereignty, or whether Washington needs to apologize for its prior interference before better relations can occur...

While the National Security Archive applauds the CIA's decision to make these materials available, today's posting shows clearly that these materials could have been safely declassified many years ago without risk of damage to the national security...

But all 21 of the CIA items posted today (in addition to 14 previously unpublished British documents — see Sidebar), reinforce the conclusion that the United States, and the CIA in particular, devoted extensive resources and high-level policy attention toward bringing about Mosaddeq's overthrow, and smoothing over the aftermath.  

The aftermath included the return to power of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi ("The Shah of Iran"), and the establishment of the SAVAK (secret police), whose torture methods included "electric shock, whipping, beating, inserting broken glass and pouring boiling water into the rectum, tying weights to the testicles, and the extraction of teeth and nails."

One can't emphasize enough that Mosaddeq had been democratically-elected by the people of Iran.  The U.S. and Britain had him overthrown in order to gain access to Iran's oil resources.

Does anyone still wonder why many Iranians distrust and/or dislike the U.S.?

Additional details in the relevant Wikipedia entry.  Via Reddit, where other relevant coups are listed.