Canadian Stamp Auctions

On October 21st and 22nd, Eastern offered three separate auctions to collectors. The first two were specialized collections of the Map stamp of 1898 and the Quebec Tercentenary set of 1908. The third, which is covered in this review, was a general auction featuring foreign, British North American and Canadian Pre-Cancels and Revenues. The material offered was of special interest to advanced collectors and specialists.

We start off with the well known plate proof of one of Canada's best known stamps which is so beautiful:

Lot 1488 Unitrade 3Pi Catalogue $2,500 Realized $1,900

While beautiful, this stamp is not rare. We counted 68 copies sold in the past 10 years at prices ranging from $825 to $1,940. The above price is a strong one though, probably reflecting the fact the stamp comes from the edge of the sheet and has a wide margin.

3p Beaver - Re-entry

Lot 1496 Unitrade 4viii Catalogue $2,000 Realized $1,700

We looked carefully but could not find a previous copy of this variety, re-entry position 33, pane A, in our records. It is mint but has no gum.

Beautifully Cancelled Queen

Lot 1520 Scott 9 Catalogue $3,500 Realized $1,050

While this beautiful piece did not capture the bidders' interest, judging from the price, we think it is very special. The stamp had a tiny corner crease, but in a philatelic item like this, this shouldn't matter. The stamp was tied by a four ring numeral cancellation to a small piece with a clear London Paid, July 6, 1859 receiver postmark in red. Eastern notes this was a "late usage" as it was during the first week of the decimal period. The piece came from the well known collection of Alfred Caspary.

5¢ Beaver - "Leaping Fish" Variety

Lot 1539 Unitrade 15ix Catalogue $750 Realized $2,500

Here is another variety for which we have no record. It is the "Leaping Fish" plate variety found in position 54. As Eastern notes, it is seldom one sees a rare stamp like this looking so nice. The price that resulted says it all.

1¢ Large Queen - Laid Paper

Lot 1581 Scott 31 Estimate $5,000 Realized $6,000

What a beautiful copy of the 1¢ Large Queen on laid paper. It certainly is a rare stamp. We haven't recorded another copy since 1996, some 15 years ago. That's a long time to wait for someone who wants to complete their Large Queen set. The catalogue value for this stamp in mint condition is $22,500. Eastern put an estimate of only $5,000 on this copy because of a number of faults.

1¢ Small Queen - Rare Numeral Cancel

Lot 1586 Scott 35 Estimate $150 Realized $400

We must confess we have no idea why anyone would want to pay $400 for this stamp which has a catalogue value of only $1.10. The clue is in the four-ring '807' cancellation. Eastern notes these are very rare as only 3 examples have been reported.

1¢ Small Queen - VF NH Orange 11 1/2 x 12

Lot 1589 Scott 35d Catalogue $350 Realized $1,300

Most Small Queens are perf. 12. This one is the rare perf. 11 1/2 x 12. It is a beauty, VF NH and well centered. It tied the previous record price set back in 2006. What a beauty!

3¢ Small Queen - Amazing!

Lot 1605 Scott 41 Catalogue $60 Realized $850

The former owner of this stamp will probably be very happy to have sold it for such a high price, in fact, a new record price. But a year from now, he or she will remember the pride of owning such an unusually fine copy and dream of owning it again!

It was just a 3¢ Small Queen of which there are many. but few are XF NH and have such huge margins and are centered to this degree. This must be one of the treasures of this sale. To our surprise, another copy sold for $800 in 2007. We are impressed when a stamp sells for double or triple catalogue but to sell for well over 10 times is truly remarkable! Our hats off to the new owner.

6¢ Overprint - Missing One Surcharge

Lot 1734 Scott C3d Catalogue $950 Realized $600

It surprised us that we had no previous record of this variety, a horizontal pair of the 6c overprint, missing the surcharge on the right hand stamp. It was not well centered and was hinged. Nonetheless, it is a rare stamp and sold for a good price.

Precancels

The sale contained a large collection of individual stamps with different types of precancels. Here are a few of them:

Lot 1274 Unitrade 5-35-V Estimate $200 Realized $230

Lot 1279 Unitrade T-56-V Catalogue $300 Realized $325

Lot 1287 Unitrade U-60-VD Catalogue $300 Realized $260

Fancy Cancels

It also contained a most interesting group of fancy cancels.

Lot 1419 Unitrade 36i Estimate $100 Realized $170

Lot 1424 Unitrade 35ii Estimate $75 Realized $120

Lot 1433 Scott 41 Estimate $250 Realized $290

Lot 1442 Scott 40 Estimate $150 Realized $230

These stamps came from the collection of a number of well known collectors including George Hicks and Fred Jarrett.

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

Eastern’s next sale will take place on November 23, 2011.