Auction #2

Vatican City #33a, 1958 500l green and blue green St. Peter’s Cathedral, Perf 14, used with light corner cancel, fine-very fine.

This stamp sold well over our expectations (and well under the top bid!). A respectable auction price.

1913-1924 King George V Issue of South Africa, set of 14 different values (no 1sh3d issued in 1920), each in a used block of four with clear cds cancels from South West Africa, fresh and fine-very fine, 1sh value with trivial and inconsequential perf fault. Following the occupation of South West Africa by South Africa forces in 1914-1915, the stamps of South Africa were used in South West Africa until being replaced in 1923 by the overprinted issues. 13 of the blocks included in this lot are dated prior 1923 and the 3d value has a Windhoek cds dated 8.2.23, just shortly after the introduction of the overprinted stamps. The basic issues are scarce in used blocks, but with the South West African cancels, this represents a rare set of forerunners. A must have for any serious collector of South West Africa.

This lot opened at about half of our estimate. Internet bidders from South Africa and Great Britain brought the bidding to $4000.

1931-1937 Mint Pictorial issue, set of 13 bilingual pairs with Bradbury Wilkinson imprint at bottom, fresh, mint
hinged (h.r.) and fine-very fine (SG 74-87, 96 £225 = $450).

These sold very well despite being lightly hinged.

We are pleased to see the level of interest in this auction. As we approach the start time for the first session, we have some final suggestions and advice for potential bidders:

• Check our latest summary of lot corrections and updates (the link is in the sidebar at the right). There are very few significant errors in lot descriptions, but small amendments may still help you change your bidding decisions.

• Use the opening bids (also linked in the sidebar) to help you fine tune your own bidding amounts. Opening bids are not the top bid, but rather one increment above the second highest bid we have received up to the moment. Lots that show $1 may have no bids, or only one bid on them at the moment.

• Bidders who still require approval to place advance bids and/or to receive an internet paddle number (enabling internet live bidding) should phone or e-mail us with your credit information. With less than 24 hours remaining before the first session, and an international clientele, we are unable to followup philatelic reference checks in time to get you registered if you are not known to us. Please note that registration is a two-step process: first, you must register with StampAuctionNetwork.com, and then you must choose Sparks Auctions as one of the firms where you wish to bid.

• Sparks Auctions Sale #2 begins at 10:00am Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) in Ottawa on June 6th, 2008. EDT is the same time zone as most of eastern North America (New York City, Toronto, etc.) and is five hours earlier than London England, or four hours earlier than UTC. For help in determining the difference between your local time and ours, see www.timeanddate.com/worldclock. We will do our best to keep to the schedule published in the catalogue and outlined in the Session Information, but you should also watch the live auction (via Stamp Auction Network) to see which lot is currently being called, when we are taking breaks etc.

Good Luck and thank you for your interest in Sparks Auctions!