Canadian Stamp Auctions

If a collector wants information on a particular stamp, he or she can turn on a computer, select a search engine and put in a question. Let's try "Small Queens". Doing this turns up some wonderful sources of information:

But this information, while useful, is limited when compared to what is available in some of the auction catalogues that have been issued over the years. This is especially true when a specialized collection is put up for sale by a knowledgeable collector.

Some recent examples of specialized catalogues

During the past two or three years, a number of specialized collections have come to market. Here are a few:

The above type of information is not generally available over the Internet. A few auction houses, such as John H. Talman in Toronto, archive each of their sales catalogues on the Internet and make them available to collectors for number of years. This is very helpful, but unfortunately not everyone has a computer and, even if they do, it is hard for some of us to absorb information spread out over multiple pages on the computer screen. Compare this to having an auction catalogue in front of you giving instant access to images and prices realized. Not many people can comfortably read a book on a computer screen.

It may still be possible to obtain copies of recent catalogues from the auction houses in question, but our viewers would have to call them to find out. Some auctioneers warn their clients not to throw out catalogues that contain information on specialized collections. We would strongly support this and, in fact, we would go further. We'd suggest you don't throw away any of your auction catalogues. The information in them is forever useful.

Some older examples of specialized catalogues

A number of years ago, we were able to acquire the complete set of catalogues from the sales of " The Fred Jarrett B.N.A.Collection" that took place on various dates between 1959 and 1961. Those individual sales catalogues are all contained in one hardbound volume. We still marvel as we look at this wonderful collection and the wealth of material it contained on Canadian stamps. Unfortunately, in those days, the descriptions were less detailed than now, there was no clear indication whether the stamps were hinged are not and the images, though plentiful, were not in colour

Many other specialized collections have been sold by auction houses over the past couple of decades. Here are some of the more interesting ones:

Here are a few examples of the kind of specialized material that can be found in these catalogues:

Scott No. 29iii Lot 425 Jim A. Hennok Feb. 23, 2002	Auctioneer's Description: 15¢ Major Re-entry, a fabulous face-free cancelled copy of the reddish purple shade showing the rare major re-entry, see figure 39A, page 126 "The Large Queen Stamps of Canada and their use 1868-1872" HE & HW Duckworth. The finest copy of this major re-entry we have ever seen. From a new find and with a 2002 Greene Certificate. Extremely Fine
Scott No.43c Lot 469 Charles G. Firby June 22, 2002	Auctioneer's Description: 6¢ Red Brown, the very Rare 5¢ on 6¢ Major Re-entry excellent colour & with large balanced margins. A remarkable copy that is considered the finest of the few known to exist. This is the rarest of all Canadian re-entries & one of Canada's most significant errors. A showpiece for the finest of collections which transcends the UCS catalogue value. 1997 VG Greene cert. #8369 & 1999 D. Brandon cert. #23822 accompanies. Ex: Dennis Dunn.
Scott No. 40d Lot 1957 Charles G. Firby Jan 24., 2004	Auctioneer's Description: 10¢ Magenta, earliest shade, perf. 11½ x 12, with excellent strike of a barred precancellation. Note: D. Bowen believes this to be the only Magenta 11½ x 12 precancel extant. A showpiece. XF-SUPERB. Ex: Bowen
Scott No. C1 Lot 436 Eastern Auctions Feb. 21, 2004	Auctioneer's Description: 3¢ Hawker Flight. Well centred and fresh mint single, with full original gum, faint trace of a hinge mark and unusually well centred, initialled with the usual J.A.R. (Dr. J. Alex Robinson, Postmaster General) on back and signed by Sanabria. Amongst the most famous and desirable Airmail stamps of the World. Only 200 stamps were printed and the majority of these were used on covers for the attempted flight. A beautiful stamp, the nicest we have handled, XF LH 1978 BPA cert and 1994 PF certs.

How to get access to these catalogues

Gaining access to these catalogues is no easy task. We are not aware of large accumulations of back issues being available for the various Canadian auction houses, except in the hands of a few private collectors. This is a shame as the information, once lost is beyond retrieval. But when it is available to collectors, it can be priceless.

Why is it so important? The main reason is that for most Canadian stamps, there are a number of varieties. Auction catalogues can provide complete descriptions and images of these varieties. This information can be valuable. Have a look at a recent Unitrade catalogue to see how much more valuable the varieties are than the regular stamps. But how can one identify these varieties? It certainly helps if one has an auction catalogue with the proper description and image. Let's look at a few:

Scott No. 3 Lot 169 Charles G. Firby Oct. 29, 1988	From the "Sam C. Nickle Collection 12d. Brownish Black on laid paper. The Magnificent Horizontal Pair, deep rich color, huge margins and with full sheet margin at bottom. Very sharp impression, fresh and full original gum. A great classic rarity -- the finest of the three surviving mint pairs and believed by many to be the Most Important Philatelic Treasure of Canada. A Superb Gem from the Dale-Lichenstein Collection. Photo in R. Lowe Encyclopedia, Vol. 5.
Scott No. 7 Irwin Weinberg Rarities 20 Nov., 1987	From the "John Foxbridge" Collection 1855, 10p Blue on Hard Wove Paper, Unusual block of 4. Ample to huge margins, including the Bottom Sheet Margin. Exceptionally Fresh. Full Original Gum. The Bottom Pair is Never Hinged. The bottom right stamp has a small surface scuff not detracting from the Awesome Beauty of this Great Rarity of Which This is the Only Recorded Unused Block
Scott No. 1 Lot 1073 Eaton & Sons 6 Oct., 1988
The 1859 2½d dull rose, British Columbia & Vancouver Island, a marginal strip of six, from the bottom of the right pane. -Imperforate- The serial number "147" showed that this 2½d B.C. & V.I. plate was the 147th. surface-printed plate made by De La Rue & Co. since 1855. The unique strip was removed from the only known complete sheet which is in the collection of the British Postal Museum. It is unknown how this strip came about being removed, but it has been suggested that the piece may have been a gift to one of the members of the Royal Family. AN OUTSTANDING ITEM and certainly one of the Gems of this collection.

We've thought about how the average collector could build such an accumulation of catalogues, either on his own or together with others. Here are a few ideas:

1. The collector can save all his current catalogues and build up his own library over a period of years. This means subscribing for catalogues from a number of auctioneers and paying the required fees.

2. To "quick start" this, the collector can bid on collections of catalogues offered by many auction houses as lots during their regular sales under the title Philatelic Literature.

3. As well, the collector can purchase collections of catalogues from providers of stamp literature, such as the following:

Auxano Philatelic Services	www.auxanostamps.ca
Charles G. Firby	www.firbyauctions.com/ 69922/42946.html

4. It would be possible for a group of collectors who belong to a local stamp club to form their own library by donating their individual catalogues and grouping them together.

5. The National Postal Archives has a collection of auction catalogues at its office in Ottawa. These are available to the general public.

We at Canadian Stamp Auctions have formed a general collection of auction catalogues that dates back to 1973. We have added to it by purchasing additional catalogues of specialized collections from some of the sources listed above. We consider this material our most valuable asset. If more collectors built up such libraries, it would ensure there was a greater knowledge of Canada's stamps, more articles would be written on philatelic topics and more people would be encouraged to display both their stamps and specialized material at our stamp exhibitions. It's a win-win situation !