Sparks Auctions

Welcome to Our Site

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Sparks-auctions.com will not be full-featured until the end of this week, but we welcome visitors and would like to give you an idea of what you can find here.

We have added the PDF version of our catalogue to the site, along with an Image Gallery of scans. You can find these in the links sidebar to the right.

Between now and the auction sessions, look forward to additional images, a tutorial on internet bidding, and featured lots from our inaugural auction. As well, we will publish an errata list with any corrections from the CD & catalogue, or additional clarification that might be required. Already we are aware that two or three catalogue pages did not render correctly in the PDF version contained on our CD and on-line, and we will provide those pages as soon as possible. [Update: We have now uploaded the correct pages for pp. 56-57, page 70, and page 181.]

Don’t forget to register with Stamp Auction Network if you are planning to bid on-line. If you are already registered, be sure to add Sparks Auctions to your list of preferred auction houses.

And please contact us if you have any questions or would like to receive the catalogue CD.

Sparks Auction #1

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We can officially announce the dates for our inaugural sale:
Thursday, November 8, 2007 at 1:00 and 7:00 Canada and BNA
Friday, November 9 at 10:00 British Commonwealth and 2:00 Worldwide
Saturday, November 10 at 10:30 Postal History, Literature and Ephemera and 1:30 Remainders, Lots & Collections.

The catalogue has gone to the printer. The proofs look great and we hope to have a small number of catalogues ready for the Royal. The balance will be delivered Friday afternoon or Monday the 15th. The CDs are expected back on Wednesday October 10 and they will be available from that date. We are preparing our mailing lists and the first mailing will go into the post sometime after Oct. 14. Extensive supporting material including PDFs of the catalogue and thousands of scans will be available on Sparks-auctions.com by the week of Oct. 15th, and the listing will go onto Stampauctionnetwork.com later that week.

We have nearly finished preparing a four page advertisement in full colour for Canadian Stamp News.

Letters for consignors, stamp clubs and others are in preparation.

The auction gallery space is coming along nicely. The painting, electrical, and construction work is almost finished. Tables and chairs are purchased and ready. We have a lovely entrance and a wide marble staircase to go down to the gallery. It is a great setting!

And even as we look forward to our first sessions, consignments for the next auction are coming in at a fast pace: an 8 carton lot, a three carton lot, a lifetime collection of France, a small envelope with British Commonwealth rarities etc.

-Ian Kimmerly

In Production

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We are in the midst of catalogue production and are very pleased with what we know so far about the sale.

Our catalogue will be full colour. We don’t yet know how many pages, but my guess is more than 220. Wow! There are over 2200 lots and the total estimates or, more usually, catalogue values are almost one and a half million dollars.

We are planning two sessions of Canada (800 lots) on Thursday afternoon and evening, a session of Commonwealth Friday morning, and foreign on Friday afternoon; Saturday morning starts the postal history. Some of the bulk lots in this section are huge – one comes in at about 1100 kilograms. And Saturday afternoon will be the remainders, and the lots and collections. I’ve just finished proof-reading that section, and it is certainly a varied group. About a dozen lots have a catalogue value in excess of $10,000 including a lovely 23 volume collection of animals catalogued some years ago at over $29,000.

You will be able to see our catalogue on-line before the printed version is ready. Also, we are preparing a CD of the auction. The CD will have more scans than the printed catalogue (and occasionally longer descriptions). In addition it will be posssible to use a search feature with the CD and to zoom in on scans. Basically the CD is an improvement on the printed catalogue. We will be able to distribute the CDs to our regular customers ahead of the catalogue.

Stay tuned. The next update should be in only a few days.

-Ian Kimmerly

Introducing Sparks Auctions

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Sparks Auctions is beginning to lot many lovely stamps and collections for an inaugural sale planned for late October or early November of 2007.

Specializing in classic Canada material particularly single stamps and sets, along with Commonwealth and worldwide offerings, we are eagerly preparing for our autumn auction. The sale will be supported by a full colour catalogue, with on-line bidding conducted through Stamp Auction Network.

Check back here for information on consigning, catalogue subscriptions, the sale dates, how to bid on-line, and updates on the exceptional stamps we are preparing for sale.

-Ian Kimmerly
Auctioneer, Sparks Auctions

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