A Tremendous First Night

Auction #8 began yesterday with Canada & British North America. To say we were pleased with the results would be an understatement. There were more than 135 successful bidders.

What impressed us most was some tremendous realizations, with prices in many instances over the Unitrade value. At a quick survey, we identified 39 lots where this was the case.

A quick listing of these follows. We will certainly have more commentary on some of these items in the aftermath of the auction.

Lot # Cat # CV$ Realized (includes 15%) Scan
2 #1 $1600 $2012 Scott #1
7 #2 $2500 $3680 Canada #2
23 #4c $750 $862 Canada #4c
61 #11 $2400 $3450 Canada #11
68 #15 $50 $52 Canada #15
82 #18 $60 $75 Canada #18 Used
101 #21a $125 $345 Canada #21a
114 #24 $375 $977 Canada #24
123 #25 $50 $80
145 #30a $500 $1207 Canada #30a
156 #35iv $50 $75
158 #36e $30 $109 Canada #36e
159 #36i $225 $242 Canada #36i MNH
171 #40d $300 $316
176 #44 $6 $184 Canada #44 Used
178 #44a $8 $22
186 #50 $150 $195
194 #54 $60 $402
198 #57 $600 $604
202 #59 $250 $575 Canada #59
205 #60 $250 $920 Canada #60 crown postmark
235 #77b unpriced $1035
279 #105a/ 109a $470 $575
281 #106 $90 $195 Canada #106 with hairlines
285 #107i $90 $126
292 #112a $135 $149
293 #112c $210 $253
300 #119 $450 $460
321 #MR2B $250 $345
333 #149a/ 153a $286 $431 Canada #153a
349 #163/ 167a $330 $431
351 #163c/ 166c $180 $241
361 #208i $60 $86
362 #208ii $75 $92
461 #TC80 $145 $218
487 #C1i $100 $316
490 #CL30 $300 $402 Canada #CL30
517 #OA104/ OA119 $400 $460
542 #S-42D $150 $204
707 Nfld #J4 $14 $34

Vietnam Revisited

Our Friday post about Vietnam attracted the attention of Southeast Asia collectors and prompted this message from a knowledgeable Vietnam collector:

North Vietnam #43-46
Lot 1188 -- North Vietnam #43-46

As a commentary on Lots 1188 and 1189, these stamps were issued by the post office but were not used postally. In the early days of Vietnam, there were virtually no banks or ways to transfer money. The post office served as a bank. A person would buy a 5,000 dong ‘stamp’ and the post office would mail it to the recipient for the nomal 1 dong rate. The recipient would then redeem the ‘stamp’ at the local post office and cart home a suitcase full of paper money. Needless to say, in a society where 1 dong/cent mailed a letter, and a daily wage would have been less than 100 dong, 5,000 dong was a small fortune and very few of these postally-issued stamps were actually used. Even mint, this set is one of the most expensive Vietnamese sets, simply because the face values were so high. The stamps in Lot 1189 are definitely CTOs, as nobody would cancel a stamp of this value except ‘sock on the nose,’ and verrrry carefully. Genuinely used examples would be extremely hard to find, because once redeemed at the receiving post office, the stamp would be retained by the postal officials as a receipt, much as a bank receipt would be retained. None would have been left in private hands.

North Vietnam #O6-O7
Lot 1191 -- North Vietnam #O6-O7

As I’m waxing poetically about one of the areas of my specialization, Lots 1190 and 1191 are also very unusual, in that they are not monetarized in terms of money, but in measures of rice. Again, in the earliest days of Vietnam, where everything was uncertain and constant challenges needed to be overcome, there was a time when there was no money in the country; at least no actual paper currency. To cope, the post office issued stamps worth the equivalent of money in the ‘currency’ best understood by the population – the rice they all ate. A similar situation would be hard to imagine in Canada, but one could equate it to a bag of potatoes, or an ounce of flour.

By the way, the reason Vietnam stamps were issued without glue was due to the shortage of horses, whose bones were an essential ingredient of glue. When I first went to Hanoi in 1992, I was amazed to see a glue pot in the main post office in Hanoi. One bought a stamp, stuck one’s finger into the glue, smeared it on the back side of the stamp, and affixed the sticky mess to the letter being sent. A petrie dish of water was placed conveniently nearby to clean off the residue of glue from one’s fingers – but no towels for drying. Now, all stamps are pre-glued, but I miss that glue pot!

Our expert then sent this followup when we asked if we could post his comments to Sparks-auctions.com:

Not many people know about the late history of Indochina or the early years of Vietnam. The tumultuous events of the civil insurrection we call the Vietnam War were on such a grand scale that normally simplistic activities such as printing and disseminating stamps seems mundane in comparison, but Vietnam’s situation was probably unique. For example, the original stamps that were overprinted in Lots 1190 and 1191 were first carved from wood, one at a time, by different people, sitting around campfires after a day’s fighting or hiding from the French. fifty of these wooden blocks were made, then inserted into a frame. The printing press was buried under straw in a village during the day, in case any French troops passed by, and was brought out at night and the stamps hand-pressed, one sheet at a time, using whatever paper was available, and vegetable dyes that were grown locally. I met one of the carvers, who is now 92, and he told me the story. They carried this manual press with them for four years, printing leaflets and stamps at night and fighting during the day. It’s quite an incredible story when you pause to consider what these young men went through, just to enable letters to be mailed.

And he added this postscript a moment later:

North Vietnam #50
Lot 1190 -- North Vietnam #50

Further to Lot 1190, I have queried my wife and she advises me that Lot 1190 is overprinted with a currency revaluation in Dong, the local currency, but Lot 1191 is overprinted in Thoc, or a valuation based upon a small quantity of rice, probably a cupful. All the stamps were overprinted in this way, so the stamps are not particularly rare, but it should be of interest to readers of your site to learn something a bit unusual. There aren’t many examples in philately where stamps have been valued in a commodity rather than a currency.

We have encouraged our correspondent to consider expanding his observations into an article, using other fascinating background knowledge including a visit to Cotevina, the government stamp printing company.

The auction starts tomorrow.  Check the opening bids to find last minute bargains as there are still lots of them.  Good luck!

Eventful Vietnam

Some years ago when a good Ottawa collector and I were in New York to attend an important stamp auction, he took me to see the musical Miss Saigon on  Broadway. It was a wonderful performance and the event which sticks in my memory happened during the finale. The great majority of the audience were so caught up with the performance that their collective emotion felt like a tsunami in the theatre. It greatly impressed me. That situation underscores one difference in the collective memories of those who lived through the Vietnam years. Canadians did not lose classmates; we are observers not participants during the finale.

A Canadian diplomat who served in North Vietnam returned to Canada in 1962. His collection of North Vietnamese stamps was kept intact for nearly 50 years and now is offered in Sparks Auctions as Lots 1162-1192.

 

Vietnam #1L18-1L19

1945-1946 2c and 4c Governor General Paul Dormer with overprint, on Indo-China (#253-254) with “VIET-NAM DOC-LAP TU-DO HANH-PHUC BUU-CHINH” overprint and wavy line obliterators. Three of the stamps have the third line “HANH-PHUC” inverted which is unlisted in Scott, no gum as issued, very fine. Estimate $300.

A number of varieties are offered in the sale, this being the most dramatic.

While public viewing was going on Friday, David and Stein were hard at work preparing material for Auction #9. As you can see we already have substantial consignments.

-Ian Kimmerly,

Sparks Auctions

David & Stein

Highs and Lows

No, we’re not referring to pharmaceuticals.

With only a few days to go we decided to examine the opening bids and look at one high and a bunch of lows.

Canada #44
Lot 176 — Canada #44

1893 8c violet black Small Queen, selected with precise centering within four oversized margins, light cds cancel, an extremely fine gem. Unitrade CV$6.00

Yesterday I spoke with a customer in the store who asked about this lot and he volunteered that he had bid $40 and wanted to know his chance of success.  I told him that I thought he would be the under-bidder.  It is now opening at $160 which more than 26 times full catalogue.  Unless he has changed his bid he is certainly no longer the under-bidder.  I have no idea what the high bid is (it might be $160). I  do know there are at least a few lots with already respectable openings where the high bid is quite a bit higher than the current opener.  There are also many lots which may or may not have one bid but still show as opening at $2 because there is only one bid on the lot.  Here are three groups (and I could have chosen many) which deserve more consideration — and bids — from our customers.

Canada #21c-29
Lot 103 — Canada #21c-29

1868-1875 ½c to 15c Large Queen issue, basic set of 9 different values in matched horizontal pairs, used with a variety of cancels including four with cds cancels, the ½c is on thin crisp paper, overall fine-very fine but we note small faults on the 12½c. A difficult group to assemble. Unitrade CV$1940.

A nice complete set of Large Queens in pairs is actually quite difficult to assemble.  This lot and from the same consignor Lot 155 which is pairs of the Small Queens are two of the early lots which deserve better than an opening of $2.

Alberta AW15/AW1066
Lot 535 — Alberta AW15/AW1066

Alberta Hunting Stamps 1964-1994, 63 stamps, 26 different. Most are for resident big game, deer, elk, moose and game birds. All used, in mixed condition, as they were affixed to licenses. Listed, but unpriced by Van Dam, largely due to their scarcity. Estimate $750.

 

A well-researched and extensive book on wildlife and conservation stamps will soon be published. It will open up a whole new area to consider collecting and add many hundreds of items to the listings of modern Conservation stamps which already receive a good philatelic following. Here is an opportunity to get in on the ground floor with this lot. It too deserves better than $2.

Canada #1359ii
Lot 437 — Canada #1359ii

1992 43c Flag over Field, Leigh-Mardon printing, double printed grey cast. During a normal printing run of a high speed web press a double printing is impossible. However in preparation for the high speed press a “make-ready” is often fed through to check for ink registration. On this occasion a make-ready was fed through the press twice resulting in a weak impression and overlaying that with a normal strong impression. Normally make-readys would be destroyed but on this occasion two double printed panes were packaged, sent to Canada Post and sold to an Ottawa resident, who then, upon noticing the variety, sold the top blocks of 20. It is these two blocks of 20 with the doubling most pronounced upon which the Unitrade listing and valuation has been established. This part pane has a double printing with a grey cast. Mint never hinged, very fine. Unitrade CV $160,000. See also Lot 436 (block of 12 with the brown cast, the largest multiple from the top two rows) and Lot 438 (block of 80 with the brown cast).

With a catalogue value of $344,000 for these three lots there will obviously be lots of floor bidding if the opening remains at a paltry $2.

There are many more lows with a few days remaining.  The opening bids can be easily accessed through this link to our listing on Stamp Auction Network. Once you see our Auction, click on the button at top left that says Opening Bids.

Catalogue Changes

We are often asked why we sometimes use an estimate and other times a catalogue value in our auction descriptions. Obviously a carton of thousands of inexpensive stamps which would take weeks to catalogue will be estimated. A high percentage of large lots and also postal history have an estimate rather than a catalogue value. This estimate is what we feel is the likely result IF there is reasonable competition. Sometimes there is very little competition for a lot and it sells well below our estimate; other times there is keen competition and it might sell for a large multiple of the estimate (see our comments after Auction 7 for more details).

Most single stamps or sets as well as some larger lots quote a catalogue value. It is important when planning your bids to understand that the catalogue value is a suggested retail (not auction) price of a single stamp in very fine condition. Doing research on the distinctions and criteria for very fine will let you understand why a fair market price can range from less than 10 percent of catalogue to a multiple of catalogue.

With about a week to go one lot will already open at exactly 10 times the catalogue value; another lot is languishing with an opening bid of significantly less than one percent of the catalogue value.  Three reasons why a lot might sell for a tiny fraction of catalogue value are:

  • the lot contains faulty stamps
  • a large percentage of the catalogue value is comprised of inexpensive stamps where a retail price is essentially a handling charge
  • there is a lot of duplication especially if the duplication is of uninteresting stamps.

Something else to consider is that catalogue values can change dramatically. Many of the best items of the People’s Republic of China doubled in price between the 2011 Scott Catalogue and the 2012 which came out about 5 weeks ago. We have just received Volume Three which covers the alphabetical listing from G to I countries. In the new catalogue, for example,  many of the classic Great Britain stamps have increased by about five percent. That might not affect your bidding very much but several have increased by more than 10 percent.

Great Britain #1
Lot 801 -- Great Britain #1

Lot 801 — We wrote about this in a previous posting. The catalogue value of a mint Penny Black has jumped 20% from $7500 to $9000.  This reflects a jump in demand, especially from China.

Great Britain #54
Lot 824 -- Great Britain #54

Lot 824 has seen a rise from $1000 to $1200.

Great Britain #57a
Lot 826 -- Great Britain #57a

Lot 826 has seen a rise from $1300 to $1500.

There are certain to be other increases (and possibly a few decreases).