AUCTION RESULTS

The Osborn collection of rare stamps of the world was sold by Cherrystone on 7 February. Among the highlights was a very fine example of the 1850 2½r black and red ‘Winterthur’ issue from Switzerland (lot 3329). This colourful stamp was released by the Zurich postal administration to pay reduced postage for local mail in the larger towns of the cantons of Zurich, Zug, Schaffhausen and Thurgau. An unusual feature of the stamp is the ornamental design between the stamps. As the Federal local post appeared throughout Switzerland on 5 April 1850, this issue was in use for only a very short time. This unused example, in its original colours and including the complete dividing ornaments on all four sides, sold for $5,000.

SOLD FOR £3,973

The Spink auction of stamps and covers of Great Britain and the world on 24 January included a cover featuring the first issue of France, which dated from 1849–52. The 30 September 1851 entire was sent from Paris to Veracruz in Mexico and was marked ‘Via Southampton’ (lot 2214). Franked with stamps totalling 13.50 francs, paying the correct nine times rate for mails between 60g and 67.5g, it bore a pair of the 25c. blue and 13 examples of the 1fr carmine, comprising two horizontal strips of three and a horizontal strip of seven that had a tête-bêche variety on the fifth stamp. The stamps were cancelled by a ‘grill without end’ obliterator, and there was an adjacent neat despatch and London transit circular datestamp of 1 October. Just one of 12 examples of a 1fr tête-bêche on cover, it reached £32,000.

SOLD FOR £32,000

Daniel F Kelleher held one of its Flagship sales on 23–25 January. One of the highlights was a very rare 1920 Grand Army of Canada Carnival airmail stamp – one of the great airmail rarities of the country (lot 91). Dating from festivities held on 28 May, this very fine $1 semi-official airmail stamp, for a Toronto to Hamilton route, was on the reverse of the return flight cover to Toronto when only 24 pieces of mail were carried, and it was tied by a Toronto machine cancel of 7.30pm on 28 May. Although the postage stamp was missing from the upper-right corner of the front of the cover, its Hamilton circular datestamp of 28 May was intact. In a very fine condition, it doubled its higher estimate of $10,000 to achieve $20,000.

SOLD FOR £15,890

Spink sold the Perry Goldberg collection of first issues of the world, including outstanding Indian Feudatory States, on 23 January. One of the auction’s highlights was an extremely rare unused multiple from the first issue of the Colony of Canada, which was designed by Sir Stanford Flemming and featured an image of an American beaver (lot 40). Dating from 1851, this imperforate 3d. orange-red horizontal pair on laid paper had mainly large margins, which is unusual for this issue. Described as being far rarer in unused condition than the 12d black, with no more than 20 unused examples believed to exist, this multiple, with part to large part of its original gum, went under the hammer for £35,000

SOLD FOR £35,000

The Warwick & Warwick sale on 7 February included a sharply embossed example of a very rare 1852 ½a scarlet ‘Scinde Dawk’ from India, which was issued under the authority of Sir Bartle Frere, who was commissioner in Scinde (lot 164). In a fresh colour, the stamp, created from a sealing wax wafer, was tied to a small piece with a diamond of dots cancel. Described as an attractive example, with some surface faults as is usually found in this issue, it had a £10,500 hammer price.

SOLD FOR £10,500