Canadian Stamp Auctions
Stamp Market Commentary
Commentary No. 68 - 17 February, 2005
The Rare Admiral Imperforates
Commentary No. 68 - 17 February, 2005
The Rare Admiral Imperforates
Over the years, Canada has issued thousands of imperforate stamps, some officially and others unofficially. The exact numbers are well known because Canada Post, dealers, auctioneers and researchers have kept careful track of them.
The Admiral imperforates were issued as part of the Admiral set (Scott 104-122), the definitives used from 1911 to 1928. Because of the length of time these stamps were in use, the number of regular stamps issued was in the billions. By way of contrast, the number of the imperforates issued was very small. Here are the figures that summarize the situation:
Why are the values higher for the 50¢ and $1.00 pairs? Likely the reason is found in the following comments in the 2005 Unitrade catalogue:
“Due to its serious mishandling of the imperf. sheets, an estimated 10-15 pairs in the each of the 50¢ and $1.00 were quite seriously creased, leaving 35-40 sound pairs of each. Unhinged pairs are very rare for all Admiral Imperforates.”
1¢ to 3¢ Imperforates (Scott 136-138)
Scott 138These lower value Imperforates were issued by the Post Office in 1924 in fairly large quantities and sell for less than $100 a pair. There have been minimal changes in their prices over the years as there is much availability and only moderate demand.
4¢ to $1.00 Imperforates (Scott 110a-122a)
Scott 110a
Scott 112b
Scott 122aThere are 50 pairs of each of the remaining imperforate stamps in the set. These were not “regularly issued” and were probably favours made to selected individuals in the Canadian stamp community. Many have been hinged, mostly very lightly hinged, as the owners were usually knowledgeable collectors.
Sales from 1993 to 2003
Here are the statistics regarding the number of VF copies sold and the prices realized over the ten year period of 1993 to 2003:
Sales in 2004 & 2005
Against this background, the prices realized in the past year at auction have shown a remarkable upwards movement. Here are the highest prices that have been reached at auction:
You can easily see the dramatic shift upwards in the prices except for the $1.00.
The Vance sale of January 19, 2005The Vance sale at the beginning of 2005 featured these two Admiral imperforate pairs:
Lot 4768
Scott 119a
Catalogue $2,000
Realised $4,400
Lot 4775
Scott 120b
Calalogue $2,250
Realised $4,850The prices realized of $4400 and $4850 are not only the highest prices we have recorded in the past ten years, but are also an amazing 4 to 5 times the previous record prices. The two pairs were bought by an American collector after very active bidding.
One sale, one buyer, does this represent a trend? Not likely, because it could be an isolated event. But if we put it in the context of a very limited supply of stamps from one of Canada’s most popular sets and take into account the price trends of the past year, it could well be part of an upward price trend for the imperforate stamps of this set. Add to this the general rise in the prices realized for most of Canada’s early imperforate stamps and the general strength of the market for these top quality stamps in general and there results a pretty strong combination of factors. It will be interesting to watch these stamps in future.
©2005, Canadian Stamp
Auctions Ltd., Montréal, Québec, Canada
