One of the essentials in lotting is that every description should stand on its own and not be dependent on the preceding lot (except perhaps with two or more identical lots where the expression “as above” can safely be used). Lots 1998 and 2012 illustrate this.

Lot 1998 is one where perhaps the Commonwealth stamps should have been emphasized first. The individual stamps don’t catalogue as much as the Great Britain, but taken as a whole, the other Commonwealth is more appealing and more valuable than the British material, which is mostly used with typical commercial postmarks. We have added fifteen pages of scans to our image gallery to give a better idea of this lot.

Lot 2012 is owned by the same consignor. We have corrected the description where we used the misleading phrase “collector’s duplicates;” an expression that would only apply if the two lots were offered together, making it clear they are from the same owner. In this case, the “duplicates” are more accurately described as a second collection. Eight pages of new scans in our image gallery will show this lot to be more appealing than our initial catalogue description.

Please check our Image Gallery for hundreds of additional scans not found in the printed catalogue. These scans are enlarged 200-300% for detailed viewing. Many of the regular scans appear only on-line, as do all of the “A” and other “letter” scans. The Extra Scans section contains newer scans that do not appear on Stamp Auction Network or anywhere else. It is well worth checking these. Follow the links in this paragraph, or choose “Image Gallery” in the sidebar to the right or from the “Auction #9 pull-down menu above.