Introduction to Auction #10

With each successive auction our consignors offer ever more interesting items to collectors.

In every section of Canada we have stamps which delight. The 77 lots of Large Queens will please collectors of mint, of varieties and especially of two-ring numeral postmarks. Small Queens offers mint multiples, proofs, imperforates, cancels and true old-time accumulations. The overall nice quality of the larger used lots is noteworthy. Later Victoria offers scarce large multiples, delightful proofs and imperforates, as well as top quality singles. Our Admiral section of nearly one hundred lots includes a very strong section of War Tax purchased at the time of issue and now on the market for the first time in nearly 100 years. Numerous better items in the Edward and the two Georges lead us into the wonderful array of a Queen Elizabeth Exhibit Collection of Wildings and Cameos. It will likely be a very long time before many of these come back into circulation. Later Elizabeth issues and back of the book have many interesting and scarce items.

Two of the highlights in the BNA section are the magnificent P.E.I. #2 and the well-centered Columbia airmail. It is fascinating that from different consignors we have a trio of “tens.” Two from B.C. have the numeral 10 of Williams Lake and a few lots later there is a rare numeral 10 rate marking from Nova Scotia.

The British Commonwealth section will help collectors fill holes and includes a group of nice Penny Blacks.

Our highlight in the auction is the Ken Kershaw collection of Nepal and Tibet. We regard both of these areas as being on the cusp of much greater popularity because of the growing strength of the collector markets in both China and India.

Postal History and postmarks continue to offer lots which originate in Exhibit Collections now broken into collector-oriented lots. Conversely, we see other lots which were groups of interesting covers put away over the years with the thought of developing an exhibit. We hope you enjoy this section.

Lots & Collections, thankfully, does not fill as many bookshelves as our previous auction but does include many top quality offerings worthy of inspection.

This auction features the largest number of extra scans we have been able to provide. Fifty lots have ten or more scans; fifteen have twenty or more, and some even have more than fifty scans. They can be seen by section and lot number in our Image Gallery.

PDF Catalogues can be seen on our website now, with print copies expected to be mailed by June 11th to arrive at subscribers early the following week. The auction is now open for bidding on Stamp Auction Network.

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).

The Stamp That Changed The World

Great Britain #1
Lot 801, Great Britain #1

The significant reduction of postal charges following the introduction of Penny Postage resulted in more — not less — revenue for the British Post Office, as written communications exploded in volume. This was one of the factors, along with the Industrial Revolution etc., which propelled Great Britain to its place of dominance among world powers in the mid-Nineteenth Century. Decades later, Prime Minister Gladstone described the 1840 Penny Black as “the stamp that changed the world.”

We offer a lovely unused example of the world’s first stamp as Lot 801. This is one item from a very strong collection of Great Britain stamps.