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SPINK GENERAL WORLD AND STAMP BOXES SALE CLOSES THE SUMMER SEASON WITH A FLOURISH

Many High Prices Decorate the 2000+ Auction

The Spink all world auction of stamps, covers and stamp boxes took place on Wednesday 6th and Thursday 7th July. Much has been said and written concerning the problems that London underwent, particularly on Thursday, but in spite of all the travel inconveniences our sale proceeded with the minimum of disruption.

The first session included over a hundred lots of stamp boxes and related items, many of which achieved exceptional prices. Lot 507 (a London triple compartment box in silver by George Heath with hinged top finely enamelled with ½ d, 1d and 1 ½ d stamps, and spring loaded compartments), was offered by Christie’s South Kensington in the Paris collection on the 10th December 2002 and realised £3,000. This time, carrying an estimate of £5/6,000, it soared to £15,000 with competition from various phone bidders. Lot 508, also from the Paris collection, was an 1892 London sloped front two compartment box in silver by Sampson Mordan and Co., the hinged lid superbly enamelled with an 1881 1d lilac and 1887 2 ½ d purple on blue. This item was illustrated on the front cover of “Les Boites a Timbres” by Brian Beet. The Christie’s price of £1,300 was considerably surpassed, and on this occasion sold for £4,000. A phone bidder from the United States, having risen at 5am, purchased no less than sixty-nine of these valuable objects and no doubt will be an influence in the future! Virtually all the metallic boxes found new homes and this market appears to be not only popular but prices are advancing rapidly!

Great Britain had over eight hundred lots including Postal History, stamps and covers. Lot 798 surprised many by the unusually high price. An 1880 envelope addressed to a seaman on “H.M.S. Atalanta, Barbadoes, West Indies or elsewhere” bore an 1864/79 1d from plate 191 with a rare postmark “Ship Missing”. Mailed from Portsmouth on the 8th June 1880, this unusual item was estimated at £3,500/4,500; however through intense competition, it realised £10,000. Surely a world record for a 1d red perforated on cover! A more traditional rarity was lot 824, a fine 1840 1d Mulready letter sheet, A234, addressed to Charles Goodwyn in London postmarked on reverse “Wotton-Under-Edge” March 25th 1841, with a superb strike of the Maltese Cross on the obverse. Illustrated on the front cover of “Royal Reform” by Charles Goodwyn, F.R.P.S.L and estimated £10,000/£12,000, it sold for £14,000. There is considerable interest in all the mint stamps of Great Britain from the Victorian period right up to George Vl. Lot 1250 - 1911 Somerset House printing, 6d bright magenta, unmounted mint, S.G.296, with R.P.S certificate - is a rare colour variety. The realisation of £8,000 was a surprise however to the Spink experts and is surely one of the highest prices for this adhesive. Another firm price was for lot 1269, the 1912/24 ½ d very yellow (Cyprus) green, unmounted mint with B.P.A certicate, S.G.355. Realising £3,800, it indicated the strength of the current market.

The British Commonwealth section comprised lots 1550 to 2145. This covered countries from Aden to Zululand and included many fine items and collections. Lot 1625 from British Guiana had the 1850/51 Cottonreel 12c blue, cut to shape and cancelled 29th October 1859, S.G. 5, estimated from £7/900, it realised £1,600. Dominica lot 1701 contained a cover dated 9th March 1883 with two copies of the 1879 2 ½ d red-brown and 1882 large “ ½ “ in red on half 1d lilac block of 4 addressed to Martinique. These stamps, particularly the 1879 2 ½ d, are very rare on cover thus the estimate of £2/250 was considerably exceeded and realised £950. It bore the handstamp on reverse “Seybold”, a gentleman whose collection was sold at the beginning of the last century.

Jamaica, lot 1892 contained a mint block of 30 of the 1860/70 1/- red brown with corner sheet margins, S.G.6. Estimated from £3/£4.000, it realised £6,500 - a price that the item merited. Victoria included lot 2041 1854 lithographed 1d orange-red, upper right corner vertical pair with original gum, S.G.23. In superlative condition and with many competitive bids entered, it realised £3,500, above its estimate of £1,200/1,500.

Lots 2043 to 2127 contained a very fine collection of Virgin Islands. We believe much of this material was from the Cecil Donne collection sold in the 1960s. There were many wonderful items here that have not been seen for decades. Lot 2051 was a combination Die Proof of the 1866 issue 1d and 6d in black. Probably unique, it sold for £2,600, a reasonable price for this item. The collection included sheets of the 1867/70 values of the 1d, 4d, 6d and 1/-. Prices were competitive here and realisations ranged from 4d value at £1,300 to the 6d on toned paper at £3,800. The highest price was reserved for lot 2107, 1888 4d on 1/- black and rose-carmine, complete sheet of 20 with position 11 long- tailed “S” variety mint. Believed to be one of only two known and S.G.42 from the Burrus and Frazer collections, it attained a price of £5,200. This section closed with a select group of collections of which lot 2142 (an accumulation of British Empire in stock books and estimated at £1,500 to £2,000) raised £11,000 for the lucky owner!

Lots 2146 to 2583 included foreign countries and collections from Afghanistan to Venezuela. No major realisations to report in this section but as usual the collections b were keenly sought after. With realisations over £770,000, this enormous sale will occupy our shippers for some time to come as there were 269 different buyers in all and happily a considerable group of new clients participating for the first time. This very successful sale concluded the first half of the season and we look forward to the second half with anticipation.