Sale 35 Winter 2021

NB February 8th, 2021: We are pleased to confirm that this auction will take place February 16-18, 2021.

Welcome to Sparks Auctions’ Sale 35. For the last several months we have been preparing this sale, and we believe the results shown here showcase our hard work, diverse philatelic knowledge, and passion for the hobby.

At Sparks Auctions the property of our consignors is of the utmost importance. Our aim is first and foremost that every consignment whether a single stamp or several cartons obtains the highest realization. Our lotting decisions, careful descriptions and numerous high-quality scans speak volumes about the care we take in our work. This is why we are receiving more and more consignments not only from estates, but more importantly from collectors, who want their treasures handled in the most professional and lucrative way.

Our auction listing on Stamp Auction Network includes more than 10,000 high quality scans or pictures. A PDF of the auction catalogue can be downloaded here on our site. You can also find posted corrections, additional photos, and full details on pre-auction viewing, the daily auction sessions and details about shipping or picking up your winnings.

This is the first of three sales we are preparing for the first half of 2021. We are confident it will provide you with nice new material for your collections or dealer stock. Some of the interesting items offered in this sale include:
• A worldwide collection in 228 albums, offered by country or area
• Retired postal history dealer worldwide stock including many Graf Zeppelin flights, censor mail, etc.
• A great offering of worldwide first day covers
• Part 2 (post 1959) of the Jan van der Ven Canadian First Day cover collection
• Extensive collection of Large Queen stamps, postmarks and postal history including mixed frankings
• Extensive collection of Karl Lewis hand-painted covers
• One of our best offerings to date of Newfoundland stamps, essays and proofs
• Extensive and rare offering of Newfoundland Cents Issue postal history from a “Western Holding”
• An outstanding offering of early Canadian air mail postal history and stamps with many very rare items.

Confidential bidding before the auction can be done in many ways: by entering bids directly in SAN; by sending us your bids by phone, email, or fax; or by using the services of one of the agents listed in our catalogue. As a reminder, all of our sales are conducted in Canadian dollars, and our buyer’s premium remains at an industry low of 17%.

Sparks Auctions is doing its utmost to keep its staff and customers safe during the worldwide pandemic, and we have posted our COVID-19 protocols in our offices and online. Sale 35 will be conducted without a public floor, and bidding during the auction will be possible in one of two ways, the best being through our usual live internet bidding on Stamp Auction Network. We also offer live bidding by telephone, but this will be limited to ensure a high-quality experience for participants. Please contact us early if this is a method you prefer.

From the Office
The Sparks Auctions team is pleased to welcome Peter MacDonald as its General Manager. He joins Auction Manager Stéphane Cloutier in the overall management of the firm, and takes up his role in mid-December. “Peter brings a background in philately and significant executive experience. Our clients have come to expect the highest integrity and attention to detail in their dealings with us,” said Sparks President Ian Kimmerly. “With Stephane and Peter leading our dedicated and skilled team, navigating the current market and planning for a bright future, we know our consignors, bidders and buyers will benefit greatly.”

Need a Gift Idea?
Are you looking for that perfect, last-minute philatelic gift for a friend or family member? We have the answer – a Sparks Auctions Gift Certificate/Card for any amount on future purchases from Sparks Auctions. Contact Kate by email or telephone to order one or more today, and we will send an easy-to-print PDF to you in time for the holidays.

Enjoy the Sale!

Stéphane Cloutier
Auction Manager,
Sparks Auctions

Sale 34 Will Be September 22nd-23rd, 2020

We are pleased to announce our September 2020 Sale #34.

Our June sale was again a huge success, with a hammer of just under $1Million plus many new buyers and consignors. This sale is a little more subdued, but still contains many interesting items, with our usual wide range of material for every collector or dealer, with something for every budget. The sale will again be conducted without a public floor, which has been proven (as in our last sale) not to be a deterrent to successful sales.

Sale #34 Catalogue

Here are some highlights from this sale:
• Extensive, advanced collection of used People’s Republic of China stamps in six volumes
• Extensive collection of early Great Britain stamps and postal history
• A lovely selection of outstanding Canadian used and mint never hinged, very fine or extremely fine stamps with certificates
• Retired postal history dealer stock, featuring worldwide censored mail and Great Britain postal history
• One of the most important collections of Canadian Pre-1960 First Day covers we have offered, loaded with scarce and rare items
• The Jerry Olesnyckyj worldwide mostly used stamp collection in 100 albums, offered by country or region, including the remainder of his dealer stock, with each lot identified by “J.O.”
• Part three of three of the Leon V. Pont collection of early India first flight postal history

We are confident that you will find something you like in this sale. Don’t forget that all our sales are conducted in Canadian dollars, and that our buyer’s premium remains at an industry low of 17%. Please visit Stamp Auction Network to look at all our high quality scans and place your bids, both before it begins or live during the auction. Our online images include nearly 10,000 scans, and we apologize that some are smaller than usual and therefore not up to our usual high standards.

Lastly, our January sale promises to be an important one, with many consignments already on hand. We are always on the lookout for more nice, quality material, with our promise that it will be well grouped and described, with many illustrations; we always have at least one photo or scan per lot, with some lots having hundreds. With Stamp Auction Network live internet bidding we cover the world in terms of potential buyers for your material.

Enjoy the sale!
Stéphane Cloutier

Sale 33 Coming in June 2020

We are pleased to announce our long-awaited next auction, to be held on June 25-27, 2020. Normally this sale would have been scheduled for the end of May, but the global COVID-19 pandemic and its resulting restrictions required us to reschedule the sale.

The first part of this sale will feature Part 2 of the “Outaouais” collection of high quality Canada and United States, with many certificates and great provenance.

Sale 33 highlights also include:

• The Brian Plain collection of Canadian Dead Letter Office postal history
• Part 2 of the extensive Leon Victor Pont collection of early India First Flight postal history in 159 lots
• Our usual offerings of Canadian and worldwide postal history and postcards
• Our usual offerings of Canadian and worldwide stamps and collections
• Two worldwide lifetime collections, one in 42 Scott International albums and one in 38 Minkus Albums, both offered intact.

This sale will be conducted without a public floor, and bidding live during the auction will be possible in one of two ways, the best being through our usual live internet bidding on Stamp Auction Network. We will also offer live bidding by telephone, but this method will be limited to ensure a high-quality experience for participants. Please contact us early if this is a method you prefer.

Confidential bidding before the auction can be done in several ways, either by entering bids directly in SAN, by sending us your bids by phone, email, or fax, or by sending them to one of the agents we list in our catalogue and online.

Sparks Auctions will do its utmost to keep its staff and customers safe, therefore we have posted our COVID-19 protocols in our offices and online.

Because mailing out catalogues on time will be a challenge, we will only be doing so for our Canadian subscribers. Those outside Canada, or those who for some reason have not received their catalogues in time for the sale are recommended to see the sale online here, which includes over 7,800 high quality scans or pictures. A PDF of this, and all our catalogues can always be downloaded from our website, where you can also see our posted corrections, additional photos, and full details on auction sessions as well as information on viewing, mailing and picking up of your winnings.

A reminder that all our lots are offered in Canadian dollars at a competitive 17% commission rate. Do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions or require additional scans or would like to consign to one of our future sales.

Stéphane Cloutier
Sparks Auctions

Sale 33 Has Been Postponed

It is with disappointment that we announce we will not be holding Sale #33 as scheduled.

The sale is ready to go, and we are proud to say it is the largest we have ever had, by far. However, in view of the COVID-19 global pandemic, the Sparks Auctions team has decided to postpone the auction, originally scheduled for May 28th-30th, 2020. At this point, the situation is too uncertain to guess when we could proceed, so we are using a “date to be determined” approach. Please check our Upcoming Page for updates as they appear, and subscribe to our mailing list to get the latest updates sent to your in-box.

The fact that we have the advantage of offering live internet bidding during our sales saves buyers from having to come in person to our offices for the actual sale, as they can either bid live on the internet, by phone, or through an agent. We are in our thirteenth successful year of operating this way. The more difficult thing for us is accommodating the very important viewing of material in person. We are proud to present our sales with more online scans than anyone in the industry, but because we offer many large collections and box lots, we think viewing in person is an essential element to the experience. As you know, we are abiding by local, Provincial and Federal restrictions currently in effect that prevent us from letting potential buyers visit our offices to view.

Please feel free to contact me if you have material to consign for the following auction, which I am currently working on.

Rest assured that we will keep you informed as things progress. Thank you for your business, your understanding, and please stay safe and well.

Stéphane Cloutier
Director of Lotting & Consignments

Auction #30, May 22nd-25th

Things are going very well here at Sparks Auctions, with each auction surpassing the last, in realizations, new customers and lovely material consigned. This sale is no exception, and offers our usual very wide variety of material for all collecting interests and budgets, all in an unprecedented four day event.

The John Hillson Collections

Day One starts off strong with the John Hillson collections. These include Small Queens of Canada, Canadian revenues issued in the Small Queen era, British Commonwealth King George VI era stamps and postal history (including Canada), as well as an advanced collection of Great Britain Line Engraved stamps and postal history, including early Scottish postal history. Mr. Hillson only collected the highest quality material, obtained during a period of over 40 years.

Day Two of our sale is devoted to postal history of the world, featuring the Andrew Liptak (Philcovex) collection of Canada, Netherlands, GB King George VI and more.

Day Three is devoted to our usual extensive Canada and BNA offerings, with 750 lots from classic to modern material, featuring the “Windsor Park” comprehensive collection including better modern varieties, the extensive “Ames” collection of Admiral issues in just under 300 lots, advanced Centennial offerings, and more.

Day Four will include our popular lots and collections of the world, including a collection in 220 volumes offered intact by country or region, a massive worldwide collection in 93 Global Master albums offered intact as one lot, many retired dealer lots, part one of the Jerry Olesnyckyj holdings in 75 lots, and more.

Complete Session & Viewing Information can be seen here on our site.

Don’t forget that all our sales are conducted in Canadian dollars, with an industry low 15% buyer’s fee. We also proudly note that all lots which have been protected by the owner have the notation “Rsv.” in their descriptions, which denotes a minimum starting bid. All other lots start at $5 and are unreserved. Those who cannot attend our viewing sessions are invited to view the auction online at stampauctionnetwork.com, where we provide over 10,000 high quality scans. Here on our website you will find even more scans, PDFs of the catalogues, updates, amendments and other useful information. We will begin featuring interesting lots from the sales next week.

Enjoy the sale, and please contact us if we can be of any assistance!

Stéphane Cloutier
Director of Lotting & Consignments