Canadian Stamp Auctions

28 June, 2007 - Vance Auctions Ltd.

Vance Auctions certainly has a winning formula. The results speak for themselves. There were 8 new record prices in the sale. Pretty impressive! We like the way the firm displays its philatelic material. Because it shows a great number of stamps on each page, it makes it easy to see the whole Canadian section in just ten pages.

Vance provides images of a large percentage of the stamps offered with brief but accurate descriptions. The thing that puzzles us is how they get their hands on so much good material! The only hint we get from Vance Carmichael is his statement “ For the first time ever, our printed catalogue is 100 pages long! Material has come from all over the globe to fill these pages.”

Perfin Beauty – Exhibition quality

Lot 6366 Estimate $1000 Realized $1075

There aren’t many perfin collectors out there, but those that exist must be very determined! In describing the above group of stamps, Vance makes these interesting comments “ a spectacular item and the first piece we have seen with a 50¢ Bluenose and a $1 Parliament OHMS ”

12p Black – Plate proof

This is one of the scarcer plate proofs of the well known 12 Penny black with the diagonal “ SPECIMEN” in red. It is not all that rare. We can count 13 copies that have come to auction in the past10 years. But it is often cut close on one or more borders. The price realized of $3,375 is a new record price, well up from the previous record of $ 2,508, set in 1998, almost 10 years ago. This is the first time the price has exceeded $3,000.

15¢ Large Queen – Never hinged copies

Lot 5511 Scott 30 Catalogue $80 Realized $345

Lot 5512 Scott 30 Catalogue $80 Realized $442

It is unusual to see not one, but two Large Queens offered at auction in no hinged condition, but such is the case with the above two examples. The first was almost perfect, but had a small spot on the gum. The second had no faults. Of all the Large Queens, the ½¢ and 15¢ are the two that can sometimes be found in no hinged condition.

5¢ Numeral – Imperforate pair

Lot 5738 Scott 79a Catalogue $900 Realized $1,225

Imperforate pairs of the Maple Leaf and Numeral sets appear pretty regularly at auction. The prices realized are generally not impressive. Therefore we were quite surprised to see the above pair do so well. It was lightly hinged, with a couple of natural gum bends. Back in 2000, a no-hinged pair sold for $1,400. Since then, no pairs have sold for more than $1,000. That’s why this price, while not a new record, is certainly impressive. Probably what attracted the buyer was the unusual feature on the left hand side where part of the next pair of stamps can be seen, plus the fact it was a sheet margin copy.

20¢ Numeral – An unusually fine used copy

Lot 5758 Scott 84 Estimate $200 Realized $215

This stamp was a real treasure that we couldn’t help noticing. We’ve seen lots of copies at auction, but rarely do they have this fine centering. A big plus also was the “Nanaimo Barred Circle “cancel.

50¢ Edward VII – Only a handful of blocks known

Lot 5811 Scott 95 Estimate $7,500 Realized $5,350

When we first spotted this block in the auction catalogue, we were not overly impressed. The stamps are all centered low and there are a couple of nibbled perfs. If the stamps were sold separately, they probably wouldn’t get a very high price. So we asked ourselves why someone would pay over $5,000 for them. The answer is likely that such a block itself is very rare and it would give the owner great boasting rights to own it.

How rare is it? We checked back in our research records and could only find one other block of 4 in this condition sold at auction, and that was in 1982 and that was 25 years ago.

50¢ Bluenose – 1st Day Cancellation

Lot 5975 Scott 158 Estimate $350 Realized $500

Here is another stamp, not in great condition, but in great demand because of its rarity, being cancelled on the first day of issue. A regular used copy is listed in the Scott catalogue for $60. A first day cover is listed in Unitrade for an unbelievable $5,000. So, how could one estimate the value of the stamp itself, off the envelope? Vance gave it an estimate of $350 and it went for $500. There are times when guessing an unusual stamp’s value is a difficult exercise, but we think Vance did pretty well.

Scott 1376b – Inverted inscriptions

Lot 6216 Scott 1376b Estimate $10,000 Realized $8,375

Such an expensive stamp. Vance states it is rarer than the St. Lawrence Seaway invert. It sold for a new record price.

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

This sale had 8 new record prices: