Canadian Stamp Auctions

23 October, 2007 - R. Maresch & Son

This was an excellent Maresch sale, so strong in varieties, quality and impressive prices. Not surprisingly, the bidders focused on the proofs, re-entries and postal history, all of which had great depth, producing some noticeable resuls. Our attempts to summarize the outcome of the sale cannot do it justice. We start off with a proof and then a number of re-entries.

Trial Color Proof of the 20¢ Numeral

We would like to caution our viewers when we get into the specialized area of collecting of proofs that we know little about them. The above stamp described as a trial colour proof on card in bright green, unlisted, stained and rare. Most collectors, ourselves included, would approach this one very carefully as not many people would have the knowledge to judge its proper value. Not so the bidders! They pushed the value up to 8 times the estimate.

Other proofs in this sale did very well as they have in many other recent auctions. This is an area of collecting that is enjoying geat demand.

Re-entries Shine!

Re-entry - psn. A80	Re-entry - psn. 90	Re-entry - psn. 7
Lot 314 Unitrade 4xiii Catalogue $900 Realized $1050	Lot 328 Unitrade 7v Catalogue $2750 Realized $1600	Lot 343 Unitrade 9ii Catalogue $6000 Realized $6250

Re-entry - psn. 94	Re-entry - Unlisted
Lot 495 Unitrade 18iv Catalogue $4500 Realized $1850	Lot 1014 Unitrade 95 Estimate $2500 Realized $4000

We did not plan to comment here on these re-entries as it would take too much space. Let's just say the results speak for themselves. There were a great number of them in this sale, far more than usual, and the prices were very strong.

Re-entries, as an area of collecting, are enjoying great popularity these days. There appear to be lots of them around, but it takes a special knowledge to identify them. Unitrade has illustrated many of them in a very helpful way and, at the end of this commentary, we provide a link to the website that is devoted exclusively to Canada's re-entries.

Here's how to identify them. First get out your Unitrade catalogue, then click onto the re-entry website so you know exactly what you are looking for. Now it's time to get your stamps out and a magnifying glass and start checking them. Add some nice background music and a glass of wine and any collector would be in Heaven!

Attention 5¢ Beaver Specialists

It's not often such a complete collection of the many collectible flaws of the 5¢ Beaver stamp of 1859 are offered all together in an auction, but such was the case in this Maresch sale. Here's how they all did (Keeping in mind most were off centre and faulty):

Postal History

Lot 471 Scott 14 & 15 Estimate $2500 Realized $4500

This cover was sent from Toronto to Paris on February 12, 1868. It's odd that one of the stamps sticks out from the top fo the envelope and has survived undamaged all this time.

Maresch interprets the various postmarks in a most interesting way. The cover was sent first to England, but had insufficient postage. Someone in the post office stamped "PAID ONLY TO ENGLAND" to make sure no one missed the point. Postage to England was 12¢, while that to France was 17¢. So the envelope had to be stamped "Under Paid" and it would seem that the postage due was 2 x 5¢ or 10¢ in total. It has a French transit mark on the front which indicates it must have eventually reached its destination.

It was described as a unique SHOWPIECE and brought a strong price, well over the estimate.

Many other covers in this sale received strong bids.

Small Queens

Here are a few of the Small Queens that did exceptionally well:

Perforation 11 1/2 x 12

NH, inclusions in gum	NH Extremely Fine
Lot 604 Unitrade 35vii Catalogue $1050 Realized $625	Lot 663 Scott 39b Catalogue $3000 Realized $4250

Feather in Hair

Lot 657 Unitrade 38iv Catalogue $1250 Realized $2400

Widow Weeds

NH, Vermillion, GEM	Imprint Pair, NH Re-entry - psn. 6
Lot 683 Unitrade 45a Catalogue $2250 Realized $2100	Lot 685 Unitrade 47i Catalogue $4650 Realized $8500

2¢ Numeral Tête Bêche Booklet

Lot 948 Unitrade 77c Catalogue $7500 Realized $7750

This rare tête bêche booklet looks beautiful. Only a dozen of these booklets exist making it very rare. The fact it had been folded along the horizontal margin and had a thin did not slow the bidders down.

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