6th December 2019
In the final stamp auction of 2019 an 1840 Rainbow colour trial 1d in red brown shade sold for £960.
Penny Blacks were in demand with an 1840-41 assortment, offered in the auction at £800, reaching a remarkable £3,360. Surprisingly, a very unusual Penny Black entire sent from Paris to Hamilton, then redirected with a further stamp being added, failed to reach its reserve.
An 1867-83 £5 orange with a superb Glasgow cancel achieved £1,740 and a 1913 Seahorse £1 made £1,800.
A 1929 Postal Union Congress £1 on cover sold for £312.
Foreign Countries
In the foreign section of the auction a China 1894 Dowagers 60th Birthday set made £720 and 9ca tete-beche pair from the same set reached £630.
Believed to be one of only 25 issued, a rare Macau 1940 New York World’s Fair 50a with inverted overprint sold for £480.
Famed for its skilled embroidery, the Swiss city of St Gallen produced the world’s first embroidered stamp for the Swiss Post Office in 2000. A mini sheet made up of 4 of the 5Sfr stamps within a border, sold for £84.
British Colonial
An Australia 1929 Universal Postal Union souvenir folder containing ‘cancelled to order’ Kangaroo issues to £2 sold for 960.
Amongst the unsolds was a New Guinea 1915-16 strip of 3 ½d green with ‘N.W.PACIFIC ISLANDS’ overprint showing the 3 settings of the overprint. With a catalogue value of £6,750 and an auction estimate of just £450 this was surely a missed opportunity.
Better known as a yachtsman, Sir Francis Chichester was also an accomplished aviator. In 1936 he completed a 21,000 mile flight from Sydney to London taking 41 days, with numerous stops on the way. A unique record of the flight sold in the auction, a large cover with stamps and local cancels from various stops on the way, addressed to Mr F.C.Chichester in Sydney, this remarkable item sold for £108.
By Phil Stowe
Are you thinking of selling your entire stamp collection or part of it? Would you like us to value your stamps and give you advice on how best to market them? Visit our stamp department page for more information.
The full catalogue for this sale will be on our website in the next few weeks or keep an eye on our Twitter and Facebook pages which will include updates of our latest auction news.