Realisations at Stanley Gibbon’s ‘double header’ auction on 19 June continue to indicate that sales of quality material are holding up well in these difficult financial times.
The morning session comprised the Great Britain catalogue featuring a fine selection of Queen Victoria, postal history including ‘Spoon’ duplex cancellations and an impressive selection of Queen Elizabeth II errors and varieties.
The star item was Lot 992, featured on the front cover of the auction catalogue (and reputedly found at a car boot sale), a prepared for use but unissued, positional block of six 8d purple-brown plate 1, showing imprint ‘POSTAGE’ in the left margin and, ‘PRICE. 8 Pence/per Label.’ in the lower margin. The block had a light horizontal crease affecting the lower row and light hinging to stamp three but was still of exhibition quality and realised £40,500.
King George V sold well especially the UPU £1 issues and booklets from the reigns of King George V, King Edward VIII and King George VI proved popular with a 1938 3s. example featuring a ‘Punch’ advertisement on the front cover and a ‘Ford’s’ on the back going under the hammer at double its estimate.
An 1855 Dublin entire bearing two 1854-58 perf 16 1d.’s, tied by two very fine diamond spoon Type A5 code 5 duplex cancellations in green, also achieved double its estimate. A majority of the other ‘Spoons’ in the sale also sold well above expectations.
As usual QEII errors and varieties attracted some keen bidding, with many lots achieving well over estimate with two in particular doubling estimate. Lot 1256, a 1958-61 graphite lined 3d. deep lilac variety with misplaced graphite lines and Lot 1274, a 1s. phosphor variety with watermark inverted. proved to be the most desirable of the offerings.
The sale ended with a selection of Great Britain collections and these too proved popular with early collections selling as well as more modest modern albums.
The afternoon session of the auction comprised a separate British Commonwealth and Foreign catalogue.
Niger Coast came away with the honours in Commonwealth with all the lots doing particularly well but the best in the catalogue was Lot 389 a c.1906 Malaya 1c. imperf colour trial in grey-green and black, the issued colour of the $25 (SG 139) affixed to a small piece of lined paper with ‘$25’ in manuscript alongside, which sold for over nearly four times estimate.
Rhodesia ‘Double heads’ again proved very popular with over half of the lots achieving in excess of estimate.
The surprise of the day was a poor example of the Indian Feudatory State of Barwani 1927 Ranjit Sing marginal block of four of the perf 7 4a. orange-brown (SG 22). A weak impression was printed on thin paper with a small tear hole (perf hole) and one hinge remain. Despite these faults the marginal block sold for well over estimate and the hammer came down just short of full catalogue price.
In Foreign, China again led the way with most lots exceeding estimate.
Like the morning session the afternoon sale included a number of collections (over 60) which also sold well. Lot 640, for example, a New Imperial Volume 2 album, containing good stamps sold for £30,000.
An ‘Ideal’ Album Volume 1 (Lot 668) included a good representation of most Commonwealth countries and, despite the album being in very poor condition, sold for £26,000 while Volume 2, also with a good representation of Commonwealth countries sold for just over its estimated value, at £14,000.