Ian – Sparks Auctions

Welcome to Auction #17

July 24, 2020May 1, 2015 by Ian

We are proud to announce our public auction #17, to be held at our premises in Ottawa, Canada on May 26th-28th, 2015. The auction is live now on Stamp Auction Network and the print catalogue will be mailed to customers within the next week.

An auction should generate excitement. The setting, reputation, and personalities can help but the material on offer is the key component to getting the adrenaline flowing.

Our Canada section has wonderful offerings: a real jumbo of a beaver, a never-hinged half penny, an exceptional used block of the 1864 two cent Victoria, a mint block of the three cent Large Queen with original gum, lovely quality never hinged late Victorian issues including high value Jubilees. The classic-era stamps continue with the very rare imperforate imprint blocks of 20 of the Victorian Numerals together with a large offering of imprint regular issues, some wonderful quality scarce Die and shade variety Admirals, the 1929 Parliament which is especially elusive in XFNH quality, scarce imperforates and printing errors. For rarity it is hard to beat the items from the estate of Canadian stamp designer Pierre Beaudin, a number of lots being unique, and rarity continues into the airmails with pre-production material.

British Columbia has an amazing collection of the numeral cancels together with items like a mint block of the five cent Vancouver Island. Our East Coast is represented with spectacular mint pence and a bisect cover from Nova Scotia; Newfoundland also offers a bisect cover and a rare two penny pair, both from the 1857 printings, as well as many lots of more affordable imperforates and varieties, and finishes with a Columbia cover.

Lot 718 og Australia #J38 1909 20sh green Postage Due, Perforated 11, Watermark Crown Over A Upright, mint, with hinged full original gum and quite well centered. Very fine and accompanied by a 2013 Sergio Sismondo certificate. This is regarded as Australia's rarest regular issue stamp. Only two sheets (240 stamps) printed, and this example is certainly among the finest of the estimated 50 remaining examples. (SG D62) (Scan a) Scott $ 13,000 — **Lot 718 og Australia #J38**
**1909 20sh green Postage Due**, Perforated 11, Watermark Crown Over A Upright, mint, with hinged full original gum and quite well centered. Very fine and accompanied by a 2013 Sergio Sismondo certificate. This is regarded as Australia’s rarest regular issue stamp. Only two sheets (240 stamps) printed, and this example is certainly among the finest of the estimated 50 remaining examples. (SG D62) **Scott CV$13,000**

British Commonwealth is especially strong in Great Britain and Australia. Many of the rarest of the high values and errors from these two are offered in this sale. Of special interest is The Kookaburra Collection which was formed by a decades-long quest to obtain every Stanley Gibbons listed variety of Australia as well as Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, and Western Australia. As a result rarities abound, especialy non-Scott listed perforation and watermark varieties. The Worldwide section is diverse and of note are some decent quality high value Italian States.

Postal History is an area where our consignors continue to offer diversity and the unusual. Once again we have hundreds of lots representing all from stampless to modern. Undoubtedly these lots will contain tomorrow’s rarities which will in future be on display in great collections.

Lots and Collections are always a big draw during the viewing. This auction will again present a big challenge for viewers. The number of one country collections as well as multi-volume worldwide lots is staggering. And it is not just volume, many lots are specialized and diverse collections. As usual Canada & BNA leads with 94 lots but that lead is challenged by Worldwide multi-country lots with 74 (and to that total could be added continent groupings of Asia, Africa, Europe etc). There are more than seventy different countries represented with one or more collections. After Canada the number of lots by country include Belgium (37) followed by British Commonwealth, Italy, Great Britain, Germany, and Australia (20).

I am confident you will enjoy perusing the catalogue whether on paper or online. Our next auction is scheduled for September. Potential consignors are reminded that waiting until the deadline to consign is not a good idea if you want careful attention to your collection in the lotting and describing process.

-Ian Kimmerly
President

Highs and Lows

July 24, 2020June 17, 2011 by Ian

No, we’re not referring to pharmaceuticals.

With only a few days to go we decided to examine the opening bids and look at one high and a bunch of lows.

1893 8c violet black Small Queen, selected with precise centering within four oversized margins, light cds cancel, an extremely fine gem. Unitrade CV$6.00

Yesterday I spoke with a customer in the store who asked about this lot and he volunteered that he had bid $40 and wanted to know his chance of success. I told him that I thought he would be the under-bidder. It is now opening at $160 which more than 26 times full catalogue. Unless he has changed his bid he is certainly no longer the under-bidder. I have no idea what the high bid is (it might be $160). I do know there are at least a few lots with already respectable openings where the high bid is quite a bit higher than the current opener. There are also many lots which may or may not have one bid but still show as opening at $2 because there is only one bid on the lot. Here are three groups (and I could have chosen many) which deserve more consideration — and bids — from our customers.

1868-1875 ½c to 15c Large Queen issue, basic set of 9 different values in matched horizontal pairs, used with a variety of cancels including four with cds cancels, the ½c is on thin crisp paper, overall fine-very fine but we note small faults on the 12½c. A difficult group to assemble. Unitrade CV$1940.

A nice complete set of Large Queens in pairs is actually quite difficult to assemble. This lot and from the same consignor Lot 155 which is pairs of the Small Queens are two of the early lots which deserve better than an opening of $2.

Alberta Hunting Stamps 1964-1994, 63 stamps, 26 different. Most are for resident big game, deer, elk, moose and game birds. All used, in mixed condition, as they were affixed to licenses. Listed, but unpriced by Van Dam, largely due to their scarcity. Estimate $750.

A well-researched and extensive book on wildlife and conservation stamps will soon be published. It will open up a whole new area to consider collecting and add many hundreds of items to the listings of modern Conservation stamps which already receive a good philatelic following. Here is an opportunity to get in on the ground floor with this lot. It too deserves better than $2.

1992 43c Flag over Field, Leigh-Mardon printing, double printed grey cast. During a normal printing run of a high speed web press a double printing is impossible. However in preparation for the high speed press a “make-ready” is often fed through to check for ink registration. On this occasion a make-ready was fed through the press twice resulting in a weak impression and overlaying that with a normal strong impression. Normally make-readys would be destroyed but on this occasion two double printed panes were packaged, sent to Canada Post and sold to an Ottawa resident, who then, upon noticing the variety, sold the top blocks of 20. It is these two blocks of 20 with the doubling most pronounced upon which the Unitrade listing and valuation has been established. This part pane has a double printing with a grey cast. Mint never hinged, very fine. Unitrade CV $160,000. See also Lot 436 (block of 12 with the brown cast, the largest multiple from the top two rows) and Lot 438 (block of 80 with the brown cast).

With a catalogue value of $344,000 for these three lots there will obviously be lots of floor bidding if the opening remains at a paltry $2.

There are many more lows with a few days remaining. The opening bids can be easily accessed through this link to our listing on Stamp Auction Network. Once you see our Auction, click on the button at top left that says Opening Bids.

Certainty and Certificates

July 24, 2020June 13, 2011 by Ian

The great majority of all stamps can be identified with certainty. When one comes across a stamp which raises questions, however, certainty is often difficult. Questions may concern the catalogue number, whether genuine or not, with or without original gum, with or without postmark, evidence of alterations or repairs, etc. A certificate from a recognized authority can often answer these questions. Certificates are prepared by humans, however, and mistakes can be made between a determination of genuine and not (in either direction!).

Generally speaking one should prefer an opinion which is unequivocal — “is genuine in all respects” or “is a forgery” usually settles the matter. “Appears genuine as far as one can tell” or “no opinion” does not help much. Whole books have been written on the subject.

With this background in mind, we’ll look at two lots in our current auction. Both have certificates from the VG Greene Foundation which is the pre-eminent expert committee for the stamps of Canada and British North America.

1851 3d red Beaver on laid paper, used with three jumbo margins and fourth well clear of outer frameline. 1978 Greene Foundation certificate mentions a “small hole” which is a pinhole not on this stamp, or in the margin but in the portion showing the next stamp at top right. A very fine example of Canada’s first stamp. Unitrade CV$1600.

A careful reading of our description explains how we interpret the rather unflattering description reading “small hole.” This is an example of a harsh Certificate. A Certificate which might be ambiguous about whether the gum is original would be an example of a generous Certificate. Generally speaking, the Greene Foundation is more likely to give a harsh rather than a generous Certificate.

1860 2c lilac, pair one bisected on cover From a new find, backstamped Liverpool, NS APR.22.1868. As the Large Queen issue was introduced in April 1868, many postmasters wished to use up the old Nova Scotia stamps. Three cents was the new Dominion rate. In 2010 the Greene Foundation wrote “the item could be genuine but the lack of a cancel tying the bisect line to cover prevents us from giving an opinion.” Not noted by the Greene Foundation was the lack of evidence of a scoreline in the event someone has used a scalpel or knife to create a bisect and also a faint staining which ties the bisect to the cover. Envelope has a stain and is damaged in upper left and lower left corners. Both stamps have some damage. Unitrade CV$3500.

Here is another example of a lot where we added commentary to the description. I concur with the opinion of perhaps the foremost authority on Nova Scotia postal history that this is genuine. Both of us have examined it thoroughly and have the oral evidence of it being a new find (see also Lot 1269). An April 22 date (the new Dominion stamps were first available April 1) and the fact of a 50% increase in postage at the same time for an in-county Nova Scotia letter suggests that no respectable and frugal correspondent would voluntarily put two of his old colonial stamps on a letter.

However all that background is lost once this envelope changes hands several times. The faint stain which ties the bisect is evidence when the envelope first surfaces but hardly evidence decades from now. The Greene Foundation did not err with its “no opinion.”

For some items a collector has to live without absolute certainty.

Varieties Noted

July 24, 2020June 9, 2011 by Ian

Two years ago Sparks Auctions was pleased to offer the discovery example of the 1946 Hydro Electric Station imperforate at right margin. It was a lower right plate block which is now listed and illustrated in the Unitrade Catalogue. In this auction we offer the second known example almost certainly from the same sheet. The example in this auction is a used single with a small fault which will sell as Lot 388.

Canada #270 1946 14c black brown hydroelectric Station imperforate at right margin, used, with part cds cancel. One pulled perf at top, fine. Catalogue value is for fine mint and was based on the sale of the unique plate block we discovered in 2009, and likely this is the unique used example, ex. “Trillium” Collection. Unitrade CV$2500.

This means there are likely to be seven more either mint or used examples awaiting discovery.

Many other varieties are harder to spot. I was looking at some lots for the future auction #9 this morning. In one lot there are dozens of used Bluenoses. One of the popular varieties of this stamp inspired the central storyline for a Tommy Tricker movie about twenty years ago. Did I look for the “Man on the Mast?” No, and I sometimes wonder how many varieties are not noticed during the lotting process because of laziness or time pressure or lack of knowledge. It certainly gives anyone a bit of a thrill to find a celebrated variety. Here are three that we offer in this auction:

Canada #158iii 1929 50¢ Bluenose Man on the Mast, used with postmark well clear of the variety, very fine. A key used stamp for the variety collector. Unitrade CV$1500

Canada #208i 1934 3¢ Cartier with “burr on shoulder” variety, used, fine. Unitrade CV$60

Canada #208ii 1934 3¢ Cartier with “scarface” variety, used, fine-very fine. Unitrade CV$75

A Worthwhile Interruption

July 24, 2020March 23, 2011 by Ian

We continue working aggressively on the large volume of material for Auction #8, so another story about a consignment is worth telling.

It was less than half an hour until the auction time at our November 2010 sale and I was starting to make my way downstairs to the auction gallery to begin calling the sale. As I reached the stairway, I was called over to the retail counter where there was a gentleman with a stamp album of material he was hoping to consign. He did not have an appointment so I was concerned how long it would take to politely pass him off to another staff member.

3d Beaver — Lovely three penny beaver with full margins

Despite the interruption, I took the album from him and to my delight, there was a lovely mint three penny beaver with four large margins.

The balance of the album was similar quality and was highlighted throughout with many lovely stamps. Without seeming to rush I was able to have a contract laid out and signed and the owner quite satisfied and still make it downstairs to start calling the auction on time.

This collection is just one of many we will be featuring.