Month: May 2009

In our editorial to Auction #3 we made comments on eleven subjects
(Rarity, Descriptions, Scanned Images, etc.) concerning the auctions.  These are worth repeating.

Exceptional Items There are exceptional items in every session. Please take time to study the catalogue thoroughly. We invite you to participate in our auction.

Rarity Each of our auctions has had an increasing number of stamps or philatelic items of great rarity. In June 2008 we offered a Newfoundland 1857 Two Penny; in January 2009 we offered two of these rarities, and also a unique pair of the Four Penny and two of the One Shilling Orange. This auction sees an Inverted Seaway block, a die proof of the Twelve Pence, and a Six Pence on wove paper with original gum – and these are just in the Canada.

Quality Collectors not only have different interests but have different criteria for quality. It is a real pleasure to describe stamps of high quality. We are especially looking for future consignments of high quality material.

Quantity Before our June 2008 auction we wrote an editorial including a paragraph about how bulky the sale was. We had to purchase 28 new full sized bookshelves to hold auction lots. This phenomenon continues. There were great bargains in the Lots & Collections last auction and the same will be true in Auction #4.

Bidding Increments We have made changes to the bidding steps at the lower level of increments. This should speed up the auction. Increments are listed on the bid sheet and on our site.

Descriptions We attempt to have accurate and consistent descriptions for all lots from the great single rarities all the way down to the carton of “junk.” This means many more hours needed to catalogue and describe collections and bulky lots. Descriptions are then audited and where necessary corrected. Sparks Auctions is interested in hiring collectors who would like to try their hand at auction descriptions on an “as-needed” basis. We invite your expression of interest.

Opening Bids Opening bids on StampAuctionNetwork will show as $2 whether there are no bids or one bid. A second bid on the same lot will result in a posted starting bid one increment higher than the underbid. Our experience is that nowadays most lots show only two dollars as the opening bid until about 24 hours before the auction begins.

Live Internet Bidding We are the first – and still the only – Canadian auction house to use the live internet bidding capabilities of StampAuctionNetwork.com.

Consignors We thank our many consignors for their confidence in Sparks Auctions. We solicit consignments of any size for future auctions.

Scanned Images We scan images at 300 dpi and 250% of their original size. This means that the expanded scans for single stamps on our site will allow the viewer to zoom in at full screen size on most computer displays. Many scans which are not in the catalogue can be found on our website.

Going Green We expect that with greater use of the internet, our printed catalogue will become increasingly unnecessary, since the auction lots and prices realized can be seen on www.sparks-auctions.com, and on StampAuctionNetwork.com. We can also record your interests and make sure you receive regular updates and special e-mail listings so that you are certain not to miss any important news. Please let us know if you no longer need the catalogue.