Canadian Stamp Auctions

GENERAL PUBLIC AUCTION

Eastern held 2 public auctions on March 10. The first was the Ted Nixon Collection of Small Queens, the second, is this General Public Auction. As is usual with one of the Eastern’s public auctions, the Canadian section was strong with 7 new record prices. This will put Eastern back in the lead of new record prices in 2012. What we found noticeable about this sale was the great number of modern varieties being presented. We have noticed this development in recent sales by other Canadian auction houses and it makes us wonder what the significance is, if any.

We start off with two very rare stamps from the 1857 Pence set, both in excellent condition.

Lot 729 Scott 8a Catalogue $2,500 Realized $2,100

According to Eastern, this stamp, printed on soft horizontal ribbed paper, is without question, one of the finest examples they have seen. We were particularly impressed by the large margins.

It’s been 6 years since we’ve recorded a copy of this stamp sold at auction. Back in 2006, a copy sold at an Eastern sale for $2,700. The price for the above stamp is the second best in the past 10 years.

Lot 730 Scott 8b Catalogue $3,750 Realized $3,250

Although the above stamp is the rarer of Scott 8a and 8b, we note that approximately the same number of each have appeared at auction during the past 10 years. In the case of Scott 8b, two copies sold in the past for prices exceeding the above. We find this a bit surprising in view of the scarceness of the above stamp and the excellence of its condition.

Both of the above stamps had excellent provenance and came from Dr. Lewis Reford’s collection which appeared at action in 1950. Each stamp was certified by the Greene Foundation.

Scott 37a – An Impressive Block

Lot 760 Scott 37a Estimate $5,000 Realized $3,000

It is very unusual to see such a large block of the rose coloured 3¢ Small Queen. This block was unhinged. Eastern commented that it was likely the largest remaining mint multiple of this shade. What a treasure. It originally came from the Michael Roberts Collection, which Eastern auctioned in 2006.

Scott 60 – Exceptional Used Copy

Lot 776 Scott 60 Catalogue $190 Realized $400

It is not unusual to see a 50¢ Jubilee at an auction these days, but very unusual to see one fairly well centered like this and with such a beautiful split ring date cancel. Collectors place a very high value on stamps like this as can be seen from the price realized. How high might the bidders go for a used 50¢ Jubilee? A year ago, a used copy sold at auction for $800. Pretty impressive!

Edward VII – Exceptionally Fine Copies

Lot 804 Scott 93 Catalogue $1,000 Realized $3,000

Lot 805 Scott 94 Catalogue $1,700 Realized $4,750

What very fine copies these are. To our eyes, the 10¢ in particular is exceptionally well centered while the 20¢ is only fairly well centered. 10 years ago, Scott 93 had a catalogue value of $375. As usual, catalogue values mean little for copies of this calibre. The price realized for the 10¢ is a new record price, a jump up from the previous record of $2,420 set back in 2006.

44¢ Walrus – Corner Blocks at Record Prices

Lot 879 Scott 1171c Catalogue $2,500 Realized $3,250

Lot 880 Scott 1171c Catalogue $2,500 Realized $2,900

These are the first corner blocks to appear at auction since 2004 when a block sold for $725. In recent years, single copies have been selling for from $220 to $425, so it is clear that demand for these corner blocks is pushing collectors to bid strongly, much more strongly than for single copies.

Unitrade 1933i – 2nd Corner Block Recorded since 2008

Lot 916 Scott 1933i Estimate $7,000 Realized $2,800

This is a very rare corner block of the 48¢ Year of the Horse. The stamp was issued in 2002 to celebrate the Chinese lunar New Year. 5 years later, the “missing horse" variety first appeared at auction and single copies have since sold for a wide range of prices of from $630 to $1,900. Eastern notes that a single pane of 25 exists. Our records show that only one other corner block has been sold and it went for $1,500 in 2008. It was the lower left corner block and so is different from the above upper right block. Eastern also noted that the above block was missing its tagging, the embossed Horse design and all inscriptions.

Unitrade F3a – Bright blue variety

Lot 932 Unitrade F3a Catalogue $1,000 Realized $400

Nicely centered mint 8¢ registered stamps don’t often appear at auction and so we were impressed by the looks of this one when we inspected the catalogue. It is the “bright blue” colour variety, as compared to the normal “blue”. Perhaps because it had a light hinge mark and wasn’t perfectly centered it only received a modest price. Nonetheless, compared to many other copies we have seen at auction, this is a real beauty. Now if you want something close to perfection, you have to go back to 2005 when a perfectly centered NH copy sold at an Eastern auction for $1,900!

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

This collection had 7 new record prices: