News Archive

Stamps & Covers of the World, and Stamp Boxes - London 4 & 5 February 2004

This large and varied sale contains over 1400 lots with a wealth of interesting and unusual single items and collections.

Wednesday’s sale features British Commonwealth including some wonderful sections. The early lots include a complete mint sheet of the famous Australian 1932 5/- Sydney Bridge commemorative seldom offered in this form these days.

The William Frazer Estate collections are well represented and include a rare and seldom offered section of over 25 lots of Batum stamps issues under the British occupation which commenced following an armistice signed in October 1918 after occupation by Turkish forces. These interesting stamps were produced by handstamping existing Russian values with British Occupation overprints. This section is followed by an equally fine group of British Levant including overprint varieties emanating from the 1916 issue for the British Field Office in Salonica.

Another British Occupation resulted in issues for Bushire being overprinted on values of Persia and these include all values of the 1915 Coronation issue concluding with the very rare 3 toman value.

Canada features many fine stamps and covers, principally from the Frazer estate, and this is followed by a wonderful Cape of Good Hope 1854 cover to England bearing 1d. pale brick-red block of eight – a remarkable franking.

Fine sections of Iraq with issues for Baghdad, and Long Island are included, the latter issued after the British occupied the Turkish island of Chustan and renamed it. These fascinating type-written stamps were provided by the Civil Administrator Lieut-Commander H. Pirie Gordon and resulted in a wealth of errors and varieties, many of which are represented in this sale.

Newfoundland offers the largest section of this sale with over 250 lots. There are a fine range of essays, proofs and issued stamps throughout.

This section concludes with a fine offering of 70 lots of Airmails featuring stamps with varieties and pioneer flights with the Trans-Atlantic Air Race, 1927 De Pinedo and 1930 “Columbia” flights.

There are fine sections of Tonga which include a fine range of the unusual offering of modern proofs, and Transjordan with notoriously difficult British Mandated Territory overprints and a group of highly attractive and unique essays and proofs for issues from 1927.

Thursday’s auction commences with an outstanding section of over 80 lots of Stamp Boxes and Related items which features Gold and Silver English boxes and a magnificent Fabergé silver-gilt and Cloisonné enamel desk set. Click here for more information about stamp boxes.

A small but select offering of Great Britain includes rare and unusual 20th Century Ship Letter handstamps and a 1910 Christmas greetings card from Enrico Caruso.

Europe and Overseas lots follow and feature the award-winning collection of Denmark Postal Stationery Cards and Reply Paid Cards formed by Ray Kelly of Australia. This highly attractive collection is described in more detail elsewhere on our web-site. There are fine sections of Germany with Booklets, Italy and Switzerland.

The sale concludes with Collections and Ranges including a wonderful ten volume collection of U.P.U covers.

The Ray Kelly award-winning collection of Danish Postal Stationery Postcards and Reply Paid Postcards, 1871-1926

This major collection will be offered in our 4-5 February 2004 Stamps and Covers of the World auction in London.

Comprising 95 lots, this collections includes an outstanding group of 1871 Postcard essays. The Scandinavian Collectors Club (USA) list 28 known cards in this series, there are 26 in this collection, several of which are signed or handstamped by S. Ringstrom (ex his museum in Trelleborg) or R. Friedl, the prominent early 20th Century dealer living in Vienna.

In addition to the essays, there is a good range of the “Double Label Cards” with various denomination and weight usages. Another prominent feature of the collection is the use of Cards to, and Reply Cards from uncommon destinations and origins, especially the Americas, Africa and Asia i.e. Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Danish West Indies, Egypt, India, Japan, Java, Malta, Paraguay, Senegal, Singapore, Trinidad, Turkey and Uruguay.

Additionally there are Military Field Posts, Paquebot/Ship Letters, Hotel Posts, Railway Pos, Deficient Tax etc., and the very scarce “Middlefart-Frederica” 1911 Airmail card of which it is considered only approx. 20 have survived.