Lot 136 Canada 1890s 5c grey, mint with sheet selvedge at top showing partial plate imprint. Perfectly centered among four large and even margins, with full original gum, never hinged. Truly a remarkable stamp and extremely fine. Accompanied by a 2014 Greene Foundation certificate.
Unitrade CV$900, sold for $1450 plus buyer’s premium.
Small Queens Plate Proofs
Plate proofs for many of the Small Queens values saw strong prices in the Cantor Sale. The following are all on card-mounted India paper:
Lot 25 One cent orange, Estimate $3000, sold for $3800 plus 15% buyer’s premium.
Lot 57 Two cent yellow green, Estimate $3000, sold for $4000 plus premium.
Lot 85 Three cent rose, Estimate $3000, sold for $4400 plus premium.
Lot 194 Ten cent dull rose, Unitrade CV$600, sold for $475 plus premium.
Lot 249 Twenty cent vermilion, Unitrade CV$600, sold for $800 plus premium.
Lot 250 Fifty cent deep blue, Unitrade CV$600, sold for $800 plus premium.
Lot 388, 1897 five cent non-UPU SQ cover to Cook Islands, sold for $2415
Lot 388 1897 5c non-UPU letter rate to Cook Islands, 2c green stationery envelope uprated with ½c black strip of six, tied by c.d.s. cancels, paying the 5c non-UPU letter rate. Mailed from Montreal (JAN.20.1897) to Raratonga, Cook Islands, Oceania (Mar. 24 receiver on front) via Vancouver (Jan. 30), San Francisco (Feb. 2) and Auckland (Feb. 26). Rare and very fine. (Unitrade 34, U7)
A rare and exotic destination, with only two Small Queen covers recorded, being the one offered here and a registered cover which recently sold for $9,500+15%.
Provenance: George Arfken.
Illustrated in: Canada and the Universal Postal Union by George Arfken, p.23.
Estimate $1,500, sold for $2,100 plus buyer’s premium.
Lot 48, 1886 pamphlet of Sir John A speech, franked with one cent yellow SQ, sold for $2530
Lot 48 1886 1c third class pamphlet rate, franked with 1c yellow, tied by a segmented cork cancel, paying the third class, less than 4oz pamphlet rate. Mailed from Ottawa, Ont. (undated) to Durham. This is a 23 page pamphlet with a copy of a speech given by Sir John A. MacDonald (then Prime Minister of Canada) to the “Workingman’s Liberal Conservative Association of Ottawa and Le Cercle Lafontaine” on the 8th of October, 1886. Stitch bound, with a bit of edge wear, still a rare publication and franking. (Unitrade 35)
A truly remarkable solo use of the 1c Small Queen on a rare and historically-significant document. This may well be the most exceptional domestic use of a single 1c Small Queen.
Estimate $750, sold for $2,200 plus buyer’s premium.
Lot 364, 1876 six cent pre-UPU SQ cover to Bahamas, sold for $2645
Lot 364 1876 6c pre-UPU cover to Bahamas, franked with vertical pair of 3c orange red, perforated 11½x12, tied by two strikes of fancy segmented cork cancel, paying the 6c pre-UPU letter rate. Mailed from Toronto, Ont. (JAN.20.1876) with readable House of Assembly c.d.s. to Nassau, Bahamas Island. Toronto (Jan. 20) and New York (Jan. 27) transit cancels and with U.S. 3c claim marking in red crayon. Fresh and attractive cover, fine stamps on a very fine cover. (Unitrade 37iii)
A rare rate with fewer than ten examples recorded to the Bahamas.
Provenance: Ted Nixon (2012).
Estimate $1,000, sold for $2,300 plus buyer’s premium.