Canadian Stamp Auctions

Welcome to another year of philatelic auctions. We hope our website will keep you well informed and also entertained. While our main focus is on the stamps of Canada, we do, on occasion, get diverted to those of other countries when stamps of exceptional quality appear in a Canadian sale.

Scott 30v – Cracked Plate Variety

Lot 2022 Unitrade 30v Estimate $1,000 Realized $850

Last May a copy of this blue gray Large Queen in XF condition and with a hinge remnant, sold for $1810. This one was of a lesser quality. It was fairly well centered but came without gum and had toning on the left side. If you were a serious collector of Large Queens and wanted the complete set with all the varieties, this would have been your only two opportunities to buy the “cracked plate” variety in the past 10 years. Collecting can take a lot of patience!

5¢ Small Queen – Large Borders

Lot 2031 Scott 42 Catalogue $200 Realized $360

This stamp had just about everything. It was well centered, VF NH and had huge jumbo margins. But it lacked one thing, a decent sized margin at the top. What a shame. But the bidders recognized its quality and it sold for well over its Scott price.

Numeral Imperforates

Lot 2084 Unitrade 79ii Catalogue $900 Realized $300

Lot 2087 Unitrade 82ii Catalogue $900 Realized $436

There must be plenty of these Imperforates around because they appear so often at auction. At least the ones like the above, without gum, seem to be quite plentiful.

In the past 10 years, prices for the above 5¢ blue imperforate have ranged from $130 to $784, which is a huge spread. Prices for the 8¢ orange ranged from $300 to $525, a more normal spread. Based on this, we would say that the first one went for a bargain price, the second one, a fairly normal price.

Perfins

Lot 2437 Scott OA157 Estimate $250 Realized $280

This sale had a number of perfins, a specialized area of collecting probably only known to a few. Although this copy was only F-VF, it had the rare “double perforation” and, as can be seen, it sold for a strong price. This is a good example of rarity trumping condition.

Well Centered US Stamps

We were impressed by the quality of the US stamps that appeared at this auction. Presenting some early U.S. stamps in a Canadian auction is not unusual. But to show ones that are well centered and NH certainly is. Here are four examples:

Lot 1319 Scott 269 Estimate $135 Realized $110

Lot 1394 Scott 320a Catalogue $200 Realized $145

Lot 1539 Scott 499 Estimate $60 Realized $80

Lot 1642 Scott E5 Catalogue $475 Realized $325

There were many other NH stamps offered from the US, more than we can remember at a Canadian auction for some time.

For more details on this sale, please click on the Highlights button.

Eastern’s next sale is a Mail Sale to be held
on March 2, 2011.