From cents to thousands: 1925 stamps auctioned
A COUPLE of cents worth of postage stamps from the 1925 New Zealand and South Seas International Exhibition, which was held in Dunedin, will be auctioned in Wellington this week.
They have an estimated value of $3800.
They will be among lots worth
$1.2 million to go under the hammer at Mowbray International’s September stamp and coin auctions on Friday and Saturday.
Mowbray coins, medals and banknotes director David Galt said three stamps — a halfpenny, a penny and a fourpenny — were issued in 1925, showcasing the exhibition.
‘‘The exhibition was a highly successful World Fair with 3.2 million visitors — more than double New Zealand’s population at the time.’’
He said they were important Otago stamps and expected them to be popular with bidders.
Interest in stamps and coins picked up during New Zealand’s Covid19 lockdowns and had stayed strong since then, Mr Galt said.
But in the past week, there had been a ‘‘surge’’ of interest in coins and stamps featuring Queen Elizabeth II, as the public looked for items that celebrated her life.
In particular, New Zealand’s Crown coins of 1953 had increased in value over the past week.
He said the coin auction would feature many coins with the Queen’s portrait, including the 17 gold and 18 silver New Zealand decimal coins lots.
A British threecoin gold set of 1989 — celebrating the 500th year of the gold sovereign coin showing Queen Elizabeth II enthroned in the same style as her ancestor Henry VII — has an estimated value of $4000.
Older coins featuring monarchs such as Queen Victoria in a Great Britain 1887 set of gold and silver coins are also up for auction, estimated at $7000.
‘‘Queen Victoria also features in a rare British Penny Black mint stamp from the 1840s — the world’s first postage stamp, estimated at $12,000.
‘‘Other important lots include a rare Adelaide pound of 1852, estimated at $16,000, [which was] struck unofficially by South Australian authorities when gold flowed in from the goldfields and cash was scarce,’’ Mr Galt said.
He said Adelaide pound coins were rare because at the time, their gold value was 10% over the face value, which meant most of the gold coins did not survive the melting pot.