Previous Lot Next Lot

Auction: 26015 - "The Treasure of the Eagles" Collection of Albania - Part I
Lot: 3124

(x) First Independent Albania (1912-1914)
Third Issue
The Most Important Item of Albanian Philately
1913, 2pi. deep rose, postage due, from the Third Issue of June 1913 by the Provisional Government of Vlorë, showing a well-centred overprint impression, with good perforations and above-average centring for the Ottoman stamp, affixed to piece and tied by Vlorë c.d.s. Only two examples of this stamp were issued, as confirmed by No. 21 of the Official Gazette of Vlorë “Perlindja e Shqipëniës” (“Birth of Albania”), dated 28 March 1914, the first newspaper of the newly independent state, published by Dhimitër Beratti. This is the only intact example in existence of this stamp, widely regarded as the most important item of Albanian philately. Far superior in quality to the only other recorded example, which has a corner cut off. Illustrated here for the first time in any auction or dealer’s retail catalogue and offered in all its splendour to the market for the first time. One of the rarest issued stamps in the world. This stamp is absent from the remarkable collection of the 1913 double-headed eagle overprinted stamps preserved in the British Library, as well as from the collection of King Charles III of the United Kingdom. Certs. O. Graf.

provenance: Minister Lef Nosi and Robert Ballauri.
After being cancelled, this example entered the collection of Lefter (Lef) Nosi (1877-1946), the first Minister of Post and Telegraph of Albania and one of the signatories of the Declaration of Independence, present at the Assembly of Vlorë in 1912, which established the modern Albanian state. Lef Nosi also owned the other existing example (incomplete) of this stamp, as part of his private collection, and both were later inherited by members of his family. One of the heirs, Rudolf Nosi, interviewed by the Albania expert John S. Phipps, initially showed Mr. Phipps the defective example with the cut in the lower left corner and explained that his uncle Lefter (Lef) had cut the corner in order to create a specimen to present the Third Issue, preserving the other intact example -offered here- as the definitive stamp. However, as no official evidence supports such an intention to deliberately alter the integrity of the stamp, doubts remain as to its alleged use as a proof for the incomplete example. Robert Ballauri (1925–2006), one of the most significant collectors of Albania of all time, directly acquired the intact example from the Nosi family.
note: It was removed decades ago from the Yvert & Tellier catalogue, as it had never been placed on the philatelic market and its whereabouts were unknown. Its reappearance in the present sale, confirming its existence, should justify its inclusion in the philatelic catalogues. It was mentioned in the most important works on Albanian philately: “The Stamps and Posts of Albania and Epirus 1878–1945” by John S. Phipps, “Stamps and Postal History of Albania” by Thimi Nika, as well as in the recent article “From Albania a World Rarity Shown to the Public for the First Time” by Giuseppe Razza, published in the magazine “Post Horn” in 2025.


Subject to 5% tax on Hammer Price in addition to 20% VAT on Buyer’s Premium.

Estimate
£75,000 to £100,000

Starting price
£70000