We
continue our coverage of the Sotheby’s auction in New York of
the outstanding collection of British North American stamps assembled
by the late Sir Gawaine Baillie. In Part 1 of our review, we looked
at the stamps of Canada’s Provinces. In Part 2, we focus on
the early Canadian stamps in his collection from Scott 1-122. As noted
earlier, the quality of the material is outstanding. As a result of
the publicity that surrounded the sale and its acceptance by the stamp
community as representing a very special event, the participation
of bidders was strong and an impressive number of new record prices
resulted.
We
present below examples of some of the best material, as described
by Sotheby’s, followed later by our comments.
Lot
763
Scott 3
Catalogue $80,000
Realized $224,500 |
12D.
BLACK - Large margins, rich deep colour, crisp impression, part
original gum. A PEERLESS EXAMPLE OF ONE OF THE WORLD’S
RAREST STAMPS. A TRUE ICON OF CANADIAN PHILATELY. R.P.S. Certificate
1959. As with the one shilling ‘Pence’ stamps of
New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Nova Scotia, the Canada ‘twelve
pence black’ is a very rare stamp. Unlike the shilling
stamps of the Maritime Provinces, which were used to make up
many complicated multiple postage rates to distant destinations,
the Canadian twelve pence stamp pre-paid specific postage rates
to just a few destinations; hence its use was limited.
PROVENANCE
Raymond and Roger Weill 1989 |
Lot
781
Scott 9
Catalogue $6,500
Realized $17,600 |
7½D.
DEEP YELLOW-GREEN - Very large margins, rich colour, large part
original gum. ONE OF THE FINEST KNOWN.
PROVENANCE
Louise Boyd Dale and Alfred F. Lichtenstein 1968
The “John Foxbridge” Collection 1987
|
Lot
783
Scott
9
Catalogue $19,500
Realized $
82,500 |
7½D.
PALE YELLOW-GREEN - Horizontal marginal strip of 3 from the
left of the sheet, large margins, exceptional colour, light
crease, original gum. ONE OF THE FINEST MULTIPLES OF THIS STAMP
AND THE PENCE ISSUES. UNIQUE AS AN UNUSED STRIP OF THREE
PROVENANCE
The “Hart” Collection 1977
The “John Foxbridge” Collection 1987
|
Lot
786
Scott
7
Catalogue $5,750
Realized $14,300 |
Clear
to large margins, rich colour, large part original gum. A SUPERB
EXAMPLE OF THIS RARE STAMP. Friedl Certificate 1976 and David
Brandon Certificate 1977 |
Lot
795
Scott
5d
Catalogue $10,000
Realized $30,800
|
6D.
GREY-LILAC - Clear to large margins, good colour, part original
gum. VERY RARE. Expertising marks on the reverse including ‘Brun’ |
Lot
797
Scott
10
Catalogue $13,500
Realized $38,500
|
6D.
REDDISH VIOLET - Clear to large margins, exceptional colour,
part original gum. A SUPERB EXAMPLE – ONE OF THE FINEST
KNOWN. THE RAREST STAMP OF CANADA UNUSED. R.P.S. Certificate
1968.
Few have been able to include this stamp in unused condition
in their collections as it is almost unobtainable. It ranks
as the rarest stamp of Canada in unused condition and in this
peerless condition there are probably fewer than six recorded
PROVENANCE
General Robert Gill 1965
Lars Amundsen 1967
The “Consort” Collection 1977
|
Lot
800
Scott
13
Catalogue $8,250
Realized $26,400
|
6D.
BROWNISH GREY - Horizontal marginal pair from the left of the
sheet, part of the imprint at the upper left, exceptional rich
colour, large part original gum. PERHAPS THE FINEST UNUSED MULTIPLE
OF THIS RARE STAMP. The Philatelic Foundation Certificate 1980
PROVENANCE
Maurice Burrus 1963
|
Lot
877
Scott
17b
Catalogue $800
Realized $1,540
|
10C.
BROWN PERFORATION 11¾X11¾, - Good colour, well
centred, part original gum. The Philatelic Foundation Certificate
1979
PROVENANCE
Henry S. Schneider 1996
|
Lot
891
Unitrade 18i
Catalogue $1,350
Realized $1,430
|
12½C.
OLIVE-GREEN PERFORATION 12X11¾, - Rich colour, fresh, marginal
dot at the left, part original gum. Vincent Graves Greene Philatelic
Research Foundation Certificate 1986 |
Lot
892
Scott
19
Catalogue $825
Realized $2,640
|
17C.
DEEP BLUE PERFORATION 12X12 - Horizontal pair, rich colour,
large part original gum. R.P.S. Certificate 1968
PROVENANCE
Colonial & Foreign Stamp Company 1983
|
Lot
909
Scott 20
Catalogue $1,800
Realized $7,700 |
2C.
ROSE-RED PERFORATION 12X12 - Block of 4, exceptional colour,
full original gum – probably unmounted. EXCEPTIONAL QUALITY.
B.P.A. Certificate 1971
PROVENANCE
Colonial & Foreign Stamp Company 1983
|
Lot
913
Scott 20b
Catalogue $2,500
Realized $2,200 |
2C.
BRIGHT ROSE IMPERFORATE - Horizontal pair, Positions 77-78, including
Position 77 Engravers slip at the lower left, fresh, ungummed.
Vincent Graves Greene Philatelic Research Foundation Certificate
1987 |
Lot
966
Scott 23
Catalogue $4,000
Realized $4,620 |
1C.
PALE ORANGE-YELLOW - Horizontal strip of 5, lovely colour, some
uncleared perforations particularly at the right, fresh, part
original gum. A RARE MULTIPLE. |
Lot
973
Scott 24a
Catalogue $2,250
Realized $3,300 |
2C.
BLUISH GREEN WATERMARKED - Well centred, rich colour, light gum
crease, large part original gum. This stamp shows the complete
watermark letter ‘B’ of ‘BOTHWELL’ |
Lot
978
Unitrade 25ii
Catalogue $8,000
Realized $8,250 |
3C.
ROSE-RED - Marginal block of 4 from the left of the sheet, exceptional
colour, lightly strengthened split perforations, fresh, large
part original gum.
PROVENANCE
The “Firth” Collection 1971
|
Lot
985
Scott 28
Catalogue $2,600
Realized $4,180 |
12½C.
PALE DULL MILKY BLUE - Block of 4, fresh, good colour, part original
gum. |
Lot
999
Scott 26
Catalogue $6,000
Realized $6,050 |
5C.
OLIVE-GREEN - Vertical block of 6, good colour, large part original
gum. A RARE LARGE MULTIPLE. |
Lot
1002
Scott 30d
Catalogue $9,000
Realized $35,200 |
15C.
GREY-LILAC SCRIPT WATERMARK - Well centred, good colour, large
part original gum. A MAJOR RARITY OF THE ISSUE. B.P.A. Certificate
1982 and a photocopy of the Vincent Graves Greene Research Foundation
Certificate 1985 |
Lot
1011
Unitrade 30iii
Catalogue $1,375
Realized $3,300 |
15C.
SLATY BLUE POSITION 10 ‘PAWNBROKER’ FLAW - Horizontal
pair, Positions 9-10 with Position 9 Plate scratches and Position
10 ‘Pawnbroker’ flaw, well centred, fresh, slight
crease, large part original gum. Canadian Philatelic Expertizing
Services Certificate 1998 |
Lot
1138
Scott 34b
Catalogue $1,350
Realized $2,090 |
½C.
GREY-BLACK IMPERFORATE BETWEEN - Horizontal strip of 4 with a
double vertical perforation between the second and third stamps
and both pairs imperforate between; fresh, part original gum. |
Lot
1176
Unitrade 43vi
Catalogue $1,000
Realized $1,045 |
6C.
DEEP CHESTNUT IMPERFORATE - Horizontal pair, unmounted original
gum. |
Lot
1265
Scott 84a
Catalogue $2,500
Realized $2,200 |
20C.
OLIVE-GREEN IMPERFORATE WITHOUT GUM - Horizontal pair with the
official blue cancellation cachet; fine. 50 pairs without gum
can exist |
Lot
1296
Unitrade 113b
Catalogue $1,000
Realized $1,430 |
7C.
STRAW - Marginal block of 4 from the foot of the sheet, fresh,
unmounted original gum. |
Lot
1353
Scott 24b
Catalogue $1,500
Realized $2,475 |
50C.
BLACK-BROWN IMPERFORATE - Horizontal pair, fresh, original gum.
It is reported that the single sheet of 100 of this error was
handled carelessly, leaving 35-40 sound pairs |
Lot
1662
Scott F3
Catalogue $2,800
Realized $5,280 |
8C.
DULL BLUE - Vertical marginal block of 8 with part of the imprint
and ‘8’, good colour, light creases, a few strengthened
split perforations, original gum. A SUPERB MULTIPLE OF THE ISSUE. |
Comments
One of the things about preparing a commentary for a sale as large
as this is that one has to leave out so much. Space did not allow
us to cover the rare proofs and essays, not to mention the rare large
blocks of Canada’s earliest stamps that only appear in public
view once or twice in one’s lifetime. On occasion, we found
it difficult to identify the various varieties as the auctioneer used
the Stanley Gibbons catalogue numbers rather than the ones we are
more familiar with in North America. If our viewers spot any errors
as we converted from the Stanley Gibbons numbers to the Scott and
Unitrade numbers, we would be grateful to hear from them so that corrections
can be made.
We
congratulate Sotheby’s for having produced such a beautiful
auction catalogue which displayed Sir Gawaine’s collection so
well. Not only did it show the stamps well but we found the descriptions
very informative and helpful. It is appreciated that the prices were
quickly available after the sale and were easily accessible on the
firm’s website. It is interesting to see how an experienced
auction firm approaches the sale of valuable stamps. Not unexpectedly,
this sale produced a good number of new record prices, the details
of which are outlined below.
New
Record Prices
There
were 20 new record prices in this part of the sale of Sir Gawaine’s
early Canadian stamps:
| Scott
3 |
$214,500 |
12d
black on laid paper |
| Scott
5d |
$30,800 |
6d
Albert on wove paper |
| Scott
9 |
$17,600 |
7
1/2d deep yellow green |
| Scott
10 |
$38,500 |
6d
Albert on thick soft wove paper |
| Scott
14 |
$880 |
1¢
pale rose |
| Scott
14a |
$6,050 |
1¢
deep rose imperforate pair |
| Scott
17a |
$2,420 |
10¢
dull violet |
| Scott
19a |
$1,760 |
17¢
slate blue |
| Scott
20 |
$935 |
2¢
bright rose |
| Scott
24a |
$3,740 |
2¢
green watermarked |
| Scott
27a |
$1,430 |
6¢
yellow brown |
| Scott
29 |
$605 |
15¢
dull violet grey |
| Scott
30d |
$35,200 |
15¢
grey violet script watermark |
| Scott
44d |
$1,380 |
8¢
pale bluish grey imperforate nh |
| Scott
74a |
$605 |
1/2¢
black imperforate pair nh |
| Scott
77e |
$13,750 |
2¢
rose-carmine imperforate tête-bêche booklet of 12
ungummed |
| Scott
80a |
$1,650 |
6¢
Numerical imperforate pair nh |
| Scott
82a |
$1,210 |
8¢
Numeral imperforate pair nh |
| Scott
84a |
$2,200 |
20¢
Numeral imperforate without gum |
| Scott
90c |
$14,850 |
2¢
pale rose-carmine imperf. tête-bêche booklet of 12
ungummed |
Sotheby
prices
We have had to convert all the prices reported by Sotheby’s
in two ways. First, we had to convert the prices from $U.S. to $Canadian
at the rate of $1 U.S. = $1.10 Canadian. Second, we had to reduce
the prices to eliminate the 15 % auctioneer's premium. Using the formula
($1.10/115% x the price) means that a reported price of $1,150 U.S.
for a particular lot would become $1,100 Canadian.
|
