Stamp Market Commentary No. 50

With this commentary, we complete our four-part series of some of the finest Canadian stamps offered by our auctioneers in recent years. Here we concentrate on the "back of the book" issues from an area of collecting that has seen some extraordinary examples being offered at auction in recent years, accompanied by equally impressive prices. (For earlier segments of this series, see Commentaries No. 38, 39 and 43)

The descriptions used below are taken from the auctioneers' catalogues without any changes. The values are from the 2003 Scott and Unitrade catalogues.

Scott C3b Catalogue $500 Realised $630	Firby - 28 June, 2001, Lot 273 6¢ on 5¢ brown olive, double overprint, F-VF and centred much better than usual, unused
Scott C5b Catalogue $650 Realised $ 745	Vance - 5 March, 2003, Lot 4314 Imperf pair, VF NH, light fingerprint on lower stamp
Scott C8a Catalogue $650 Realised $ 725	Maresch - 30 April, 2002, Lot 2848 1943 War Issue, Imperforate pair, NH and very fine
Scott E1iv Catalogue $190 Realised $ 600	Eastern 14 October, 2000, Lot 893 10¢ deep blue-green. A stunning mint single with huge, oversized jumbo margins, fresh colour and mathematical centring, an unbelievable example of this very difficult stamp.
Scott E2i Catalogue $150 Realised $ 500	Maresch - 10 Sept., 2002, Lot 2503 20¢ carmine, wet printing, brilliant, fresh NH, superb.
Scott E8a Catalogue $650 Realised $ 785	Vance - 15 January 2003, Lot 4744 Imperf pair, XF NH, only 75 pairs known
Scott F1 Catalogue $85 Realised $ 575	Maresch - 29 Jan., 2003, Lot 1436 Brilliant, fresh, exceptionally well-centred bottom margin copy, NH, extremely fine
Scott F1b Catalogue $210 Realised $ 1,300	Maresch - 29 Jan., 2003, Lot 1438 Rose carmine, brilliant fresh, NH, extremely fine
Scott F2 Catalogue $125 Realised $ 600	Maresch - 21 Aug, 2001, Lot 1829 5¢, green, centred, NH and superb
Scott F2b Catalogue $175 Realised $494	Firby - 22 June, 2002, Lot 675 5¢ Pale yellow-green, a huge, absolutely gorgeous example of this very scarce variety with full OG, VLH. A lovely, superb example
Scott F2c Catalogue $1,300 Realised $1,450	Hennok - 29 Sept., 2001, Lot 683 5¢ imperf block of 4 with left sheet margin and portion of imprint, upper pair HR, lower NH, very fresh & VF, only 200 pairs recorded
Scott F2i Catalogue $585 Realised $775	Maresch - 29 Jan., 2003, Lot 1463 Brilliant, fresh top margin copy, NH, extremely fine
Scott F3 Catalogue $325 Realised $ 475	Lee - 29 September, 2001, Lot 4274 8¢ blue registered mint single, LH VF. Great colour!
Scott J15a - 20a Catalogue $700 Realised $ 1,345	Vance - 16 January, 2002, Lot 3940 Rare set of the imperf pairs of the 1935-1965 violet postage dues. Only 100 pairs of each exist & most have disturbed gum from improper storage. However, these are all in top condition. XF NH
Scott MR2 Catalogue $27 Realised $ 240	Eastern 14 October, 2000, Lot 907 2¢ Carmine, a fresh mint single with huge margins. XF. NH
Scott MR4c Catalogue $900 Realised $900	Maresch - 3 June, 2003, Lot 2442 Imperforate pair, the rare Die II, no gum as issued, very fine and rare
Scott MR7iii Catalogue $200 Realised $ 230	Kimmerly - 6 Nov., 2001, Lot 631 VF NH 2¢ yellow-brown, Die I, a fresh, well centred stamp which is difficult to find with this issue

This completes our survey of some of the finest stamps sold at auction in recent years. We found it to be a pleasure to search through the catalogues to find these choice items. We hope you have found the results interesting and that this series will encourage you, our viewers, to always search for the best!

Canadian Stamp Auctions

Stamp market commentary

Commentary No. 50 - 17 August, 2003

Some Outstanding Canadian Stamps - Part 4