A Large Queen that sold for nearly five times catalogue value.
Canada #30iv 1873 15¢ greenish grey Large Queen, perf 12, used with light cancel, good colour, very fine. With 1997 Greene Foundation certificate. Unitrade CV $150, sold for $625 hammer.
large queen
Lot 85, Canada #33 3c bright red Large Queen on laid paper, unused — Realized $20,700
There is really no other place to start our account of the good realizations from Sale #6 than with lot 85, the 3¢ bright red Large Queen on laid paper. Local CBC television news was here to witness as bidding opened at $11,500, and two bidders some 10,500 kilometres apart took the price to $18,000.
Canada #33 1868 3c bright red Large Queen on laid paper, unused (regummed) single possessing nice bright colour, full perforations and pleasing centering, fine. Accompanied by 2002 APS and 2010 Greene Foundation certificates (latter one pink due to regumming). This is one of Canada’s rarest stamps with fewer than ten mint or unused examples recorded to date. In fact, from all Canadian stamps with major Scott numbers, only the 1851 6d Consort on laid paper (#2) and the 1868 1c Large Queen on laid paper (#31) are known in similar small quantities. This specific stamp is likely the second finest example (only the original gum example that was in the Firth collection appears to be of a higher quality). Unitrade CV $25,000
The record price drew the attention of CanadianStampAuctions.com, which has provided detailed commentary about this item and several other stamps in the sale.
Lot 900, Great Britain #5 1sh Used
1847 1sh pale green Queen Victoria embossed, used with large margins on all sides, fresh pleasing colour and lightly cancelled by a numeral cancel. Overall an extremely fine condition example of this rarity and worthy of a distinguished collection. Scott CV $800
Lot 85, Canada #33 3c bright red Large Queen on laid paper, unused
Canada #33 1868 3c bright red Large Queen on laid paper, unused (regummed) single possessing nice bright colour, full perforations and pleasing centering, fine. Accompanied by 2002 APS and 2010 Greene Foundation certificates (latter one pink due to regumming). This is one of Canada’s rarest stamps with fewer than ten mint or unused examples recorded to date. In fact, from all Canadian stamps with major Scott numbers, only the 1851 6d Consort on laid paper (#2) and the 1868 1c Large Queen on laid paper (#31) are known in similar small quantities. This specific stamp is likely the second finest example (only the original gum example that was in the Firth collection appears to be of a higher quality). Unitrade CV $25,000
Sparks Auction #6, May 17-19, 2010
Sparks Auctions is pleased to announce our sixth public auction, to be held at our Ottawa premises on May 17th, 18th & 19th, 2010.
This sale has over 1,600 lots with truly something of interest for every stamp collector. We were pleasantly surprised by the coverage of material entrusted to us by over forty consignors. We are quite confident that you will be too.
The Canada and British North America section is highlighted by three world class rarities, the mint or unused 6d Consort on laid paper (Lot 8), a 3¢ Large Queen on laid paper (Lot 85) and a Newfoundland 1sh orange (Lot 753). These stamps very rarely make an appearance on the auction block, being many times scarcer than the 12 penny black, and we are privileged to offer them in this sale. Are you going to be the lucky collector who gets to cross off "Number 2" from your wantlist?
Not to be outdone are the hundreds of more affordable lots including a high number of premium quality singles and blocks. Several attractive lots of proofs and essays are offered in this sale, including the lovely set of Jubilee proof blocks of ten, several die proofs from the 1920s and a fascinating selection of modern proofs and essays from the Estate of Jean-Pierre Beaudin (Lots 485 to 503). The modern errors come from multiple consignments with almost no overlap and include many items which we have never previously offered.
The British Commonwealth section starts with a glorious example of the 1sh green embossed from Great Britain (Lot 900), and continues with nice quality sets and singles. As for rarities, we can point to the Nandgaon 2a rose (Lot 997) – a very rare stamp indeed despite the modest catalogue value, and the Malayan States overprint, which is headlined by the Sungei Ujong 2 brown with inverted "S" (Lot 1014). This last stamp, along with several others in the sale were found by our staff unidentified within the material consigned to us – it certainly pays to consign early! The foreign section has a nice group of United States, lovely mint Germany in high quality, almost all never hinged, but the highlight remains the trio of rarities from Iceland in premium quality. Postal history is not to be outdone, with a lovely selection of semi-official airmail flight covers, and a rare cover salvaged from the wreck of the St. Olaf (Lot 1315).
The lots and collections once again fill our shelves. Of particular note are the worldwide classic collection with a catalogue value in excess of $100,000 (lot 1727) and other items from the same consignment, such as the classic revenue stamps collection (Lot 1760). We urge viewers to spend some time on the larger lots and collections as some of the last minute consignments will certainly contain nice surprises.
Catalogues are currently at the printers and will be mailed the week of April 26th. The PDF version of the catalogue is now available for viewing or download from the link in the gray box on the right side of this page. You can also find information about bidding, on-site viewing, and a gallery of additional images. Internet bidding is available through stampauctionnetwork.com.
Please let us know if you would like to have a catalogue delivered to you, or if you have any questions about the sale.
Good Luck in the auction!
-Sparks Auctions