Lot 1521 Germany Group of 19 Graf Zeppelin Flown Covers and Cards, 1928-1933, all franked with “Graf Zeppelin Crossing the Ocean” issues, and includes mail with C35 (x5), C36 (x6), C37 (x7), C38 (x2) and C43. Three C37 covers are to New York, as are 2 of the C36 pieces. Another C36 item is to Tokyo. Both the C40 stamps are used on South America flights. The C43 is on a flight to South America cover continued to India. Some minor creasing and tears (one of the C38 covers is stained but stamp is intact), at least one stamp is detached (hinged back on) still overall fine or better, all scanned online. The 2020 Scott catalogue value given is for the air mail stamps used on cover. From the The Leon Victor Pont Collection of Early India, New Zealand and Worldwide Pioneer Flight Covers. Scott CV U$2,665, sold for C$2,700.00 plus 17% buyer’s premium.
Graf Zeppelin
Lot 1522, Germany Group of Graf Zeppelin flown covers and cards, 1929-34, sold for C$2,106
Lot 1522 Germany, Group of Graf Zeppelin Flown Covers and Cards, 1929-1934, includes 18 Zeppelin picture post cards. Note mail from flights to both North and South America, Holy Land, Egypt and Rome. Also a number of pieces of “On Board” mail. Note one card flown in 1912 and then re-flown on the Graf Zeppelin in 1931. Also note a “Meteor” post card and other desirable items. Overall fine or better group, 54 scans online. From the The Leon Victor Pont Collection of Early India, New Zealand and Worldwide Pioneer Flight Covers. Estimate $1,000, sold for C$1,800.00 plus 17% buyer’s premium.
Lot 1064, 1930 round trip Graf Zeppelin cover NY, Germany, South America, NY
Lot 1064 USA 1930 Germany to South America to U.S.A. Round Trip Graf Zeppelin Cover, franked with C15, the $2,60 blue “Baby Zeppelin”. Mailed in New York on APR.24.1930 and sent to Germany by sea. Graf Zeppelin left Friedrichshafen on MAY.18 and flew to South America via Sevilla. From South America flew up the coast of the Americas to New York, arriving there MAY.31, with Lakehurst receiver on the back. Has both US and German confirmation handstamps. Very fine. Frost U$1,600.
Lot 1050, Germany 1930 Graf Zeppelin flown postcard to Brazil, VF
Lot 1050 Germany #127-49B 1930 Germany Graf Zeppelin Flown Picture Postcard to Brazil, franked with C38, the South America overprint Graf Zeppelin issue. Mailed Berlin on MAY.19, 1930 and flown to Sevilla, Spain, to connect with the Graf Zeppelin. Has confirmation handstamp at left in red. Arrived in Bahia, Brazil on MAY.24. The picture depicts a Doenier DO-X Airplane. Clean and very fine. Frost CV U$850.
Sale 29 Coming January 23rd-24th, 2019
Welcome to Sparks Auctions’ 29th sale, to be held in our offices in Ottawa on January 23rd & 24th, 2019. The sale is now live on Stamp Auction Network.
Our September 2018 sale was our largest so far, and our January auction promises to continue this great trend. We value the participation of collectors from around the world, and are committed to providing an exceptional bidding experience. To that end, we maintain our very competitive buyer’s premium of only 15%, which remains one of the lowest among philatelic public auction firms. We also continue our commitment to industry-leading transparency, by clearly indicating with a “Rsv.” which items are subject to a minimum reserve bid.
Collectors in every field are sure to find something of interest among our high-quality offerings of Canadian, British Commonwealth, and worldwide stamps and postal history. Highlights include our usual high quality singles and sets, from the classics through to rarely offered modern varieties.
We are also proud to offer the “Azilda” collection of Canadian registration stamps and covers, including gems offered on the philatelic market for the first time in over forty years. These are identified in the catalogue with the letters AC (Azilda collection) accompanying the description.
Our British Commonwealth and Worldwide selections including another installment of desirable SPECIMEN perforated sets, exceptional never hinged Italy and rarely-seen Italian States, a collection of “Number One” stamps of the world offered in several lots, as well as early Great Britain, United States, and more.
Our postal history section abounds with diverse material, including our always-popular postmark lots, featuring a lovely collection of Canadian fancy cancellations, offered in over thirty lots. Also of note are forty-five lots of Graf Zeppelin flown covers and cards from around the world, Western Express covers, and more.
One of the highlights of this sale is a world-class advanced collection of Great Britain squared circle postmarks, consisting of over 16,000 covers and cards as well as thousands of stamps. The collector diligently sought fully legible and quality strikes, including most of the rare ones, and more common hammers are often found on better items, such as unusual usages and exotic destinations. This collection contains most of the great rarities, much of it originating from the renowned collection of Stanley Cohen. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to acquire material from one of the best collections ever formed.
Finally, we are pleased to offer worldwide country lots from the Jack Gray collection. This collection was received in just under 100 large cartons, and is being offered principally by country, with each lot typically including more than one collection. Jack was a topicalist, and purchased country collections to extract the topical material he needed, and what remains is a very diverse offering. These lots are identified with (JG) accompanying the description. We recommend careful viewing of his material as the sheer volume of material may yield finds for the eagle-eyed collector.
As always, we are at your service if we can be of any assistance.
Enjoy the sale!
Stéphane Cloutier,
Director of Lotting & Consignments