Sparks Auctions Sale - 3

Sparks Auction #3 - January 13, 2009

Stamps of the highest quality, rare stamps which are seldom offered, collections carefully built over decades, and huge quantities of stamps filling cartons -- Sparks Auction #3 offers it all.

Canada's first stamp is the three penny beaver printed on laid paper. We offer two lots of this popular collectible. One is a pair of these stamps in the highest quality with deep rich colour, light postmark and large, even margins (lot 403). The second (lot 404) is from the corner of a sheet with the original huge margins. With a centrally applied target cancel, this stamp has tremendous visual appeal. Less than a handful of corner marginal examples have survived.

The single lot with the greatest volume and certainly the greatest weight is one man's lifetime collection (lot 1502). The collection is housed in 52 volumes, 49 of these Scott Internationals covering the period 1840 to 2002. These massive volumes range from about 10 to about 13 cm in thickness. You need to be a weightlifter with large hands to pull one out from the shelf. All this plus two cartons of duplicates and supplies is offered as one lot.

One of the joys of working with stamps and describing them is the discovery of a treasure. While describing a strong collection of Hong Kong, one lotter noticed a variety on a Queen Elizabeth stamp. Issued in 1973 on glazed paper, the ten dollar value of the definitive series is a variety not listed in the major North American catalogues. In the Stanley Gibbons catalogue it is #209d with a catalogue value of £2,250. The result is that a buyer is going to acquire a rare and elusive stamp and the seller will be very happy (lot 124).

Another discovery came in a lot offered as postage. Many of the stamps had some disturbed gum and while counting the face value, another lotter noticed something quite spectacular. The plate block of the 1946 Peace Issue is imperforate at left. This discovery example is now the most important item in a Peace Issue stamp collection. Only discovered after 62 years, it almost certainly unique and joins two similar errors issued in 1942 and 1950 on the "impossible" list (lot 664).

While Ian was teaching a course at the 2008 American Philatelic Society Summer Seminar he was asked his advice on a one frame exhibit of the postal history of the 1942 One Dollar Destroyer. This had been given to the Society to help fund their activities. The result was an interesting consignment to Sparks Auctions and Sparks will donate its commission to the APS (lots 1042-1057).

The auction includes more than stamps and envelopes. One section offers more than 2000 postal hammers. They fill many cartons and are mostly separated by province with more than 750 from British Columbia alone. We always have a literature section and this auction we have some books with prints, posters, historical letters, and especially newspapers which include many historically important stories from the 1700s and 1800s. You can read original contemporary accounts of the Battle of Waterloo, the births and deaths of English monarchs etc. The offering includes a fair number of USA papers including nine issues (1794-1807) of the Columbian Centinel from Boston (lots 1179-1236).

One consignment from the West offers 24 lots of one of the best collections of Admiral issue flag cancels ever formed. These represent a great opportunity for anyone interested in, or starting out in this challenging field. See lots 1006-1023, and 1072-1077.

The printer's production file for the 1952 Red Cross stamp will be of interest both to serious students of Canadian philately as well as topical collectors of the Red Cross. The development of the final design and the essays tell a fascinating story. This one lot could form the basis of a Gold Medal exhibit (lot 672).

A joy of being in the auction business is the opportunity to see and study collections in greater detail than is normally possible. One of the collections which provided this pleasure was of Lithuania. This multi-volume collection had mint and used stamps, errors and varieties galore and several volumes of postal history. Because there is less demand for the stamps of this fascinating Baltic country the errors and rarities are relatively much more affordable. This auction will present an opportunity to obtain them. An example is Lot 342.

The complete printed catalogue is sent to our regular subscribers, with PDF versions of each section available on our web site. Our site also provides thousands of additional scans, updates and corrections, etc. Please note that we have changed our bidding increments to speed the calling of the auction and to simplify bids for lower cost items. Bids will begin at $2 to $30, $5 to $100, etc. Good Luck in the auction!

For more information please contact us at:

Sparks Auctions
62 Sparks Street
Ottawa, Ontario K1P 5A8 Canada
Phone: (613)567-3336
Fax: (613)567-2972

To request more information by email. info@sparks-auctions.com

Visit our Home Page at Sparks Auctions

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