DISASTER MAIL: 1847 entire letter from Sydney Australia to Glasgow, carried by the ''S.S. Berkshire'' which was caught in a storm and damaged and had to make port into the French Port of Cherbourg for repairs, bearing crowned Sydney ship letter oval for NO 7 1846, backstamped by London arrival marks and Glasgow boxed h/s for 3 APR 1847 a journey time of 145 days! Very fine. ? ? The ''S.S. Berkshire'' carried 18 officers, and 150 seamen from the French corvette 'Seine' which was shipwrecked in the Pacific Ocean, the scheduled stop in Cherbough to disembark the French sailors also satisfied an urgent need for repairs. (Image)

Australia States. Small range of twelve used imperfs on leaves with Tasmania SG 11 (good margins) and 1857-8 1d, 2d, 4d and 1/- x 2, a couple touched in places but all of good appearance; Victoria SG 5, four margins, 5a (thinned) and 7 (nicked corner), and Western Australia SG 1 (two, one fine, the other close at top and with faint stain at right), and SG 3 (four margins). Also seven forgeries and one reprint (Image)

1913 watermark 2½d green corner strip of three with CA monogram, heavily hinged o.g.; 1d red Die IIA single with JBC monogram, large part o.g. but foxed on reverse; and 2d with JBC monogram, fine o.g. Also a page of Thursday Island cancels on Queensland (four plus a card to Scotland) and on Australia (4), and another page with Tasmanian cancels (10, including smaller offices) (Image)

1913-14 £1 brown and ultramarine, wmk 2, showing "clipped tail" variety, neat Melbourne cds, fine, BPA cert (2009), SG15 (Image)

1913 £1 Kangaroo, large part og, a shorter perf at top, good colour and fresh appearance. SG 15 (Image)

1913 £2 Kangaroo, large part og, well centred, a few shorter perfs, attractive and rare stamp. SG 16 (Image)

1913 Kangaroo set to 10s, part to large part og, a few small flaws here and there but generally fine and fresh, (13 values) (Image)

1915-27 3d yellow-olive Die I with JBC monogram, large part o.g. with inconsequential buckling and some slightly uneven perfs, from Plate 1; and a fine o.g. Die II example with CA monogram, also from Plate 1. SG 37, 37d (Image)

1915-27 1s blue-green, die IIB, wmk 6, left marginal example, showing complete offset of design on reverse, unmounted (hinged in margin). ASC BW33c, SG 40b VAR (Image)

1916 £1 chocolate and dull blue Kangaroo, large part og, well centred, short perf at right, typical perfs for this issue, scarce, SG 44 (Image)

1924 £2 purple-black and pale rose Kangaroo, large part og, typical perfs for this issue, fresh appearance, SG 45b (Image)

1923-24 2s maroon, wmk 6 INVERTED, large part og. Ex Julian Sterling, fine example of this rare stamp, SG 74w (Image)

1924 £1 grey Kangaroo, large part og, with left-hand Interpanneau margin showing partial T.S. Harrison imprint, fresh, SG 75 (Image)

1929 5/- grey and yellow, watermark Multiple Crown and A. John Ash imprint strip of four, fine large part o.g. with good perfs. The third stamp (R10/1RP) with the quite sizeable flaw, 'white area off NSW coast'. Attractive and very scarce in this form. SG 111 (Image)

1929 10s grey and pink Kangaroo, fresh large part og, with right-hand margin SG 112 (Image)

1930 £2s black and rose Kangaroo, fresh large part og, fine and rare, SG 114 (Image)

1934 £2s black and rose Kangaroo, fresh large part og, a few shorter perfs at top but this hardly detracts, SG 138 (Image)

1937-49 5s, 10s and £1, all on chalky paper, lower left-hand corner blocks of 4 with imprints ("BY AUTHORITY" (5s) or "JOHN ASH" (others)), unmounted mint with the odd minor gum wrinkle, 5s with trivial marks in margin, an attractive group, SG 176-178 (Image)

1948-56 1s grey-green, no wmk, lower left corner block of 8 (4x2 -upper plate/left pane), showing "Green mist" retouch on third stamp of upper row (R9/3), large part og (six stamps, including variety are unmounted). KGVI Expertising cert (2010) fine positional piece,  SG 230d/da (Image)

POSTAGE DUE: 1902-04 20s dull green, wmk type D2 showing marginal wmk "PO(STAGE)", fresh og, a few shorter perfs, a fine example of this rare stamp, RPS cert (2012),  SG D44 (Image)

POSTAGE DUE: 1912-23 10s scarlet and pale yellow-green, wmk w11, perf 14, large part og., tiny surface mark, fresh appearance, only 343 sold, SG D86 (Image)

POSTAGE DUE: 1913-23 £1 scarlet and pale yellow-green, wmk w11, perf 14, lower marginal block of 4 with "JBC" monogram, unmounted mint (tiny wrinkle at foot of margin), only 708 issued. Ex Martin West, exhibition quality, ASC D104z, SG D87 (Image)

BOOKLET: 1930-33 2s booklet, green on pale green cover, containing two panes of 6 (3x2) of 1931-36 2d golden scarlet (inverted watermark = SG 127w) with tissue paper interleaving. Front cover with a couple of minor marks, back cover inscribed "USE THE AIR MAIL". Scarce,  SG SB25a (Image)

1850-2018 Comprehensive collection housed in 28 albums with an emphasis placed on completeness with miniature sheets, booklet panes, self-adhesives, coil stamps etc. collected alongside normal issues. Also, with parallel collections of Australian Territories, Christmas Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Norfolk Island. Good range of Kangaroos, 1913 1d KGV in marginal block of eight with imprint and plate No1, marginal strip of 6 with imprint and plate No2, marginal pair with partial imprint and plate No3. 1913 6d Kookaburra in marginal strip of 4 with imprint and plate No1. 1929 3d Airmail in corner plate blocks of four (Plate 1,2,3,4), also marginal block with John Ash imprint. 1929 Cent. of Western Australia in blocks of four, with plate flaws, John Ash imprint, plate numbers from 1 to 12. 1931 3d Kingsford Smith in corner plate block of 6 with “Aeroplane dropping mailbag variety”. 1932 Lyrebird in marginal pair with John Ash imprint. 1932 Sydney Harbour Bridge set in marginal multiples showing John Ash imprints, etc. The same depth of collecting throughout with some additional material such as 1885 underpaid GB cover to Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne, with boxed “Deficient Postage” boxed handstamp, 8d manuscript in an oval “More to Pay” handstamp. An excellent source for specialist items, viewing recommended (Image)

1913-2020 balance of mint collection in one carton with many better stamps: 1915 Kangaroos 9d, 2s, 5s, 1915-27 Kangaroos 2s, 5s, 10s, 1929-30 Kangaroos 6d to 5s, 1931-36 Kangaroos 5s, 10s, £1, 1932 Sydney Harbour Bridge set to 5s, 1937-49 set to £1 etc, mostly large part og., all neatly housed in album on printed hingeless Davo pages. Modern material housed in stock books and on Hagner pages, and is mostly unmounted mint. Fine lot with much to recommend it (Image)