Commentary No. 70 - 17 April, 2005
Outstanding Canadian Stamp Prices
In Early 2005!
If you thought last year started off with a bang in the Canadian stamp auction market, have a good look at the results so far this year. They look equally impressive. What really stands out about the stamps shown below is that the prices the determined buyers are willing to pay for them are so much higher than the previous best prices. These aren’t modest increases, but jumps! Here are the standouts:
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Scott 28
Catalogue $625
Realised $4500
(previous record $2100)
Scott 43
Catalogue $85
Realised $1050
(previous record $750)
Scott 76a
Catalogue $275
Realised $1100
(previous record $400 )
Scott 94
Catalogue $1000
Realised $3750
(previous record $1950)
Scott 112i
Catalogue $99
Realised $250
(previous record $170)
Scott 118
Catalogue $75
Realised $365
(previous record $230 )
Scott 118a
Catalogue $2000
Realised $4450
(previous record $1950)
Scott 119a
Catalogue $2000
Realised $4400
(previous record $1100)
Scott 120b
Catalogue $2250
Realised $4850
(previous record $975)
Scott 922a
Catalogue $300
Realised $490
(previous record $300)
Scott 981a
Catalogue $600
Realised $675
(previous record $500)
Scott 468Bd
Catalogue $1250
Realised $2312
(previous record $2027)
While these impressive prices are found from the Large Queens to the Modern Varieties, a few things stand out.
First, in the early stamps, outstanding copies that are well presented at auction will always attract remarkable prices. But there are very few copies available...
Second, the Admiral set continues to be the engine of growth. Note that five of the twelve stamps shown above are from this set.
Finally, Canada’s imperforates are highly in favor. In a market like this, the imperforates are bound to shine. Most are VF NH, there are very few of them and they almost always attract strong bidding. In a word, they are very good buys because collectors can usually count on being able to easily sell them when they choose to do so for a price that is fairly predictable.
In order that the auction houses, the sellers and the buyers of the above stamps can identify their stamps, we provide details of where the stamps came from in the chart below.
Sources of information Scott Auction 2005 Lot 28 Eastern February 26 390 43 Eastern February 26 416 76a Maresch February 22 1307 94 Maresch February 22 1429 112i Eastern February 26 450 118 Firby March 25 124 118a Vance March 16 4662 119a Vance January 19 4768 120b Vance January 19 4775 922a Vance March 16 4849 981a Maresch February 22 1684 468Bd Firby March 25 1913
©2005, Canadian Stamp Auctions Ltd., Montréal, Québec, Canada