Lot 568 Group of 48 WWII Canadian Airmail Covers with O.A.T. Handstamps, 1942-1945, loose in a box, with various boxed and oval O.A.T. handstamps, paying primarily 30c and 40c rates (note a few 10c rates with solo frankings), primarily to Switzerland, Sweden, and France, along with Norway and Iceland. The covers are franked with 1938 Pictorial and War issues, noting blackout and machine cancel types, along with a variety of censor tapes and handstamps. We note some duplication of rates and destinations, online photos show an overview. Overall fine to very fine. Estimate C$150, sold for C$550.00 plus 17% buyer’s premium.
airmail
Lot 577, Collection of Canadian Airmail Pilot Letters, 1931-33, sold for C$351
Lot 577 Collection of Canadian Airmail Pilot Letters, 1931-1933, consisting of of twenty-three letters (fifteen are manuscript and eight are typewritten) from pilots who were responsible for first airmail flights from 1925 to 1938. Most have letterheads. They are all addressed to a California collector who wanted to have some flight covers signed, and the pilots often add some details of the flights in their letters. The letters are from the following pilots:
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- Richard H. Bibby;
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- B.W. Broatch;
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- Maurice Burbridge;
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- W. Fleming;
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- Idris G. Glyn-Roberts (x2);
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- Herbert Hollick-Kenyon;
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- Earl M. Hand (x2);
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- David A. Harding;
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- G.R. Hicks;
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- W.H. Irvine;
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- Thomas A. Lawrence;
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- C.G. Lumsden;
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- A. Daniel McLean (x2);
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- Archie M. McMullen;
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- H.C.W. Smith;
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- C. Peter Troup;
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- John Henry Tudhope;
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- Howard Watt;
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- W. Windrum;
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- J.A. Young.
There is also a note and a letter from someone at Canadian Airways giving addresses of pilots. The letters are dated from different Canadian cities and one from Egypt. The first flights for these pilots are listed in section 26 of Airmails of Canada and Newfoundland. Some of these pilots were among the best Canadian early pilots. Three won the McKee Trophy: John Henry Tudhope (1930); Maurice Burbridge (1932) and A. Daniel MacLean (1941); Two were inducted in the Aviation Hall of Fame: Maurice Burbridge and Herbert Hollick-Kenyon (both in 1974). Hollick-Kenyon was involved in the MacAlpine search expedition, the Lincoln Ellsworth Antarctic Expedition and the search for Russian pilots in the Arctic (with Archie McMullen) in 1937. All are sleeved and have old dealer annotations. Estimate C$100, sold for C$300.00 plus 17% buyer’s premium.
Lot 513, 1944 Germany Military in Crete Airmail with inverted Inselpost overprint, VF NH
Lot 513 1944 German Military in Crete Airmail with Inverted Inselpost Overprint, mint never hinged from lower left corner of sheet, showing plate inscriptions in bottom selvedge. Light diagonal bend, else a very fine and rare stamp, with Pickenpack guarantee handstamp. Michel # 7BK. Michel CV €4,000.
Lot 1278, Newfoundland 1919 three cent brown Hawker overprinted Airmail on flown cover St. John’s to Malvern, England
Lot 1278 Newfoundland #C1 1919 3c Brown Hawker Overprinted Airmail Issue on Flown Cover, mailed from St John’s on APR.12.1919 (machine cancel) to West Malvern, England, with English seal on back (used to close open flap) cancelled London APR.30.1919. The cover is franked with a well centered Newfoundland C1, which was lifted and re-attached in a slightly different position, tied by the St John’s machine, and there is a “per Aeroplane” endorsement at top left. Small tear at bottom does not detract, very fine. Rsv. $16,500.
This flight made a controlled crash landing in the ocean, after about 13 hours of flight, which probably explains why the back flap and the stamp both became unattached. An exceedingly rare cover, as only 200 stamps were overprinted, 18 of those destroyed as they were defective and with only 95 used stamps believed to exist, far fewer remain on their original covers.
Accompanied by:
– 1971 BPA certificate (not mentioning the detached stamp)
– 1983 Enzo Diena certificate
– 2022 Greene Foundation certificate.
Unitrade CV$35,000
Lot 634, Canada 1932 6c on 5c brown olive Airmail surcharge, XF NH, sold for C$70
Lot 634 Canada #C3 1932 6c on 5c Brown Olive Airmail Surcharge, mint never hinged, well centered among four large and balanced margins, quite fresh and extremely fine. Accompanied by a 2007 Sergio Sismondo certificate grading it as “XF-Sup 95 OGnh”. A very nice stamp, catalogue value irrelevant. Unitrade CV$30, sold for C$60.00 plus 17% buyer’s premium.
