Toronto Style 1 Precancel on 1c QV Numeral, without gum, a fine centered stamp with a thin at top, never the less a very rare stamp of which only 3 copies are known to exist, being a separated strip of three originally found by the Postmaster of Upper Stewiacke, NS. Ex Andrew Ellwood collection. (Image)

Precancel $ 3,000

Windsor and London Double Precancel on a 1c King Edward VII, used with a light grid cancel, fine and very rare. Harry Lussey wrote in Topics (March 1986) that there are only two known examples of this combination (this one off cover, and our next lot on cover). Accompanied by a 1999 Greene Foundation certificate. Ex Andrew Ellwood collection. (Image)

Precancel $ 2,000

Windsor and London Double Precancel on a 1c King Edward VII on Cover, a nice, clear impression on the stamp, on a (faulty) cover addressed to Aylesford, Nova Scotia. Harry Lussey wrote in Topics (March 1986) that there are only two known examples of this combination (this one on cover, and our previous lot on stamp). Ex Andrew Ellwood collection. (Image)

Precancel $ 2,000

1923 3c Carmine Admiral Precancelled R-Gauge Block of Four, mint with bottom stamps never hinged, plus Toronto Style 10-109 precancel and cutting arrow at top of selvedge, very fine, and possibly unique. (Image)

Estimate $ 300

Extensive and Specialized Precancel Collection, neatly displayed in black mounts in two deluxe Deveney Stamps precancel albums, which closely follow the Marasco and Taylor Precancel Catalogue. Volume 1 is for forerunners, bars and perfins, and volume 2 is for towns and cities. This is the most extensive collection we have offered to date, by far. It is loaded with stamps cataloguing $100 to $500, in fact far too many to list. One way to gauge the extensiveness of the collection is to say that we counted 2,395 different stamps in the towns and cities section alone, plus another 220 different forerunners and bar types for a total of 2,615 stamps. These numbers do not include the numerous added extras, usually in the form of pairs and blocks of four, but sometimes extra copies, or slight variations on the precancel. We noted that many stamps have never hinged gum, including the sought after Admirals, which adds to the desirability of this awesome collection. This collection was formed over a lifetime, and contains quantities of items that are difficult to locate. We have scanned only a small portion of the pages online, and can easily offer video viewing on request. Ex Andrew Ellwood collection. (Image)

Estimate $ 15,000

Extensive Collection of Precancel Varieties, neatly displayed and described in a heavy binder containing 90 black stock pages. The collection includes the types of varieties listed in Part IV of the Marasco and Taylor Precancel Catalogue, with broken bars, missing letters, partial letters, offsets of the precancel, stamps that have other postmarks, squished and clipped letters, missing province, and so many more, most appear to be constant varieties, as often proven with more than one issue or example of the variety. We counted about 558 bar type stamps and 3,852 town and city type stamps, for a total of about 4,410 stamps, including duplication of up to dozens in some cases, and each pair and block was counted as one only. We did not count precisely but there appears to also be 400 to 500 number between bar types, identified by position, as well as varieties. A very unique collection, in fact we do not recall ever seeing anything like this offered before, and would have taken a lifetime to assemble. If catalogued, the value would be immense, so we estimated an average of $1 per stamp, based on the large quantity of items with high catalogue value, and the probable high level of interest. We show many representative pages online, but can also offer video viewing on simple request. Ex Andrew Ellwood collection. (Image)

Estimate $ 5,000

Group of 41 Early 1c Precancels on Cover, Queen Victoria to King Edward VII, includes illustrated advertising, an 1889 Birth Registration letter, 16x 1c Small Queen Covers, 21x 1c Leaf or Numeral covers and 4x Edward covers. The precancels vary from single bars to wavy lines, with different Types, we even noted a few roller precancels and Householder covers. Some have faults, still a rarely offered lot with many lovely and valuable covers included. Photos show a good sampling. Ex Andrew Ellwood collection. (Image)

Estimate $ 400

Group of 105 Covers with City or Town Precancels, mostly with Admiral frankings, but also Edward, Scroll and Arch, up to Medallion. There is a great variety of material here, including illustrated advertising, printed matter rates, wrappers, a newspaper bulk mailing receipt with 30 fifty cent Admirals, a Military Medal wrapper mailed registered from Ottawa to Hamilton in 1921, a 1c stationery cover uprated with a 1c Scroll precancel to Mexico, a 1c Admiral precancel with International Harvester private perfin and more, with precancels from a number of different places, including some varieties such as inverted, misprints, etc. 13 covers are oversize, rest are #8 size and we noted a few faults (incl. a lovely colour illustrated advertising front), else overall fine to very fine. Ex Andrew Ellwood collection. (Image)

Estimate $ 300

Group of 177 Covers with Various Precancelled Stamps, 1890s to 1940s, with a few more recent, neatly displayed in a cover album. Starts with an 1896 The All Around Stamp Advertiser magazine / newspaper with a ½c Small Queen precancelled with a St Hyacinthe roller (very fine), rest are all #8 size covers or postcards with a great variety of precancelled stamps, including Queen Victoria Numerals (1c and 2c, x11), as well as Edwards, Admirals, Scrolls, Arch, etc. We also note a good variety of precancel Types, with wavy lines, bars, numbers between bars and city / town types. The majority of the covers have business corner cards, and we believe these were collected for that attribute. Nice overall quality and overall fine to very fine. Ex Andrew Ellwood collection. (Image)

Estimate $ 250