A Traditional Philatelic Auction House — Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
The Athena Collection, January 21 & February 11, 2023
Lot 66 Canada #20 1859 2c Deep Rose Queen Victoria, Perforated 12 x 11¾, a mint block of four with large part original gum. A lovely and fresh block, with bright colour and precise impression, perforations are clear of design on all four sides of all four stamps, extremely fine. Very likely to be the finest mint block of four in existence and one of the gems of this collection.
Ex Bertram and E. Carey Fox collections.
Accompanied by a 1984 Greene Foundation certificate. Unitrade CV$8,000.
Lot 412 Canada #F1b 1888 2c Deep Rose Carmine Registration, mint with full original gum, never hinged and fresh. This deep shade is unlisted in Unitrade, and is equivalent to the Unitrade listed 3c Small Queen 41i (Montréal Gazette printing), it has four large and balanced margins and is extremely fine.
Accompanied by a 2000 Philatelic Foundation, and a 2009 Greene Foundation certificate. Unitrade CV$1,500.
Lot 75 Canada #28 1868 12½c Blue Large Queen, a mint block of four, with full original gum, with a few hinge remnants. A well centered block, with only a few tiny toning spots, still very fine.
Ex “G. Marnier” collection. Unitrade CV$11,200.
Lot 135 Canada #60 1897 50c Ultramarine Jubilee, a mint never hinged, with deep, rich colour, pristine gum and wonderful centering, extremely fine. A phenomenal stamp in all respects.
Accompanied by a 2022 PSE certificate grading it as “XF-Sup 95”. SMQ U$2,150. Unitrade CV$1,500.
Lot 2 Canada #1 1851 3d Red Beaver Imperforate on Laid Paper, unused (with trace of original gum), with bright colour and sharp impression. The stamp possesses three large margins, and the bottom one just touches the outer frameline at right, fine-very fine.
A very rare unused example of Canada’s first stamp, as one census of mint and unused Three Penny Beavers on laid paper puts the number at about 20. Although this might be a little bit low, many of these mint and unused stamps are cut into or have faults, and some are in institutional collections. It is likely that fewer than a handful of sound number ones are available to private collectors. A rare opportunity for the mint Canada collector.
Accompanied by a 1959 Royal Philatelic Society certificate issued to W. E. Lea, Esq. Unitrade CV$45,000.
