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Canadian Stamp Auctions |
Recent Auction Highlights
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Canadian Stamp Auctions |
Recent Auction Highlights
| 14 February, 2009 - Eastern Auctions Ltd. We couldn’t
help but notice the number of outstanding lots of cancelled stamps at
the beginning of the Canadian section of this auction. There were eighteen
mini-collections of beautifully “dated” Small Queens and
Jubilees that would make any collector’s eyes shine. Here is an
example:
2¢
Registered - An Outstanding Copy
This stamp is a
real feast for the eyes, a collector’s delight. It is NH, has
nice wide borders, neat perforations with a deep rich colour and impression.
Not surprisingly, it attracted a very strong price, in fact, the second
best we have recorded.
When we look at these low value Numerals, we think “my, what big fat borders you have!” This isn’t something we would say to any of our friends, but it is a perfectly acceptable compliment for lovely stamps like these. Only the 1¢ is perfectly centered. But regardless, the others are close enough that they drew strong bids. We were so impressed by the price for the 1¢ that we were sure it was a new record. But it turns out that two years ago, a copy sold for $458.. But we weren’t far off because the above the price of $325 is the second best price in the past ten years. It’s amazing
to think that over 313,000,000 of these 1¢ stamps were issued back
in 1898 and now, just a single copy has sold for $325.
We were a bit puzzled by the results for these three Admiral Imperforates. Very few NH copies have appeared on the market over the years so you would have thought the 8¢ stamp would attract the strongest price, but such was not the case. The 4¢ and 50¢ each sold for the best prices in the past ten years for a LH copy. The 8¢, which was NH, sold for a relatively low price. The only explanation we can think of is that the wrinkle on the back of the 8¢, stamp had been “pressed” and this alteration may have discouraged potential buyers. Without that wrinkle, we estimate it would have sold for double the price it received….Too bad! Unitrade has some useful comments to make about these Admiral Imperforates which help us to understand their faults: “Due to the
serious mishandling of the imperf. sheets,10 – 15 pairs each of
the 50¢ and $1 are quite seriously creased, leaving 35 -40 sound
pairs of each. Unhinged pairs are very rare for all Admiral Imperforates.” Admiral
Overprints
Three unusual stamps, all with obvious printing errors, all poorly centered, but they sold for good prices. The Canadian overprints from these early years, Scott 87/88 and Scott 139/40 have attracted surprisingly strong prices in recent years.It has been quite noticeable.
The QE II Centennial Set – rare Imperforates There are quite a few imperforate pairs in the 1967 centennial set. Some of the scare ones are currently selling for relatively low values, for example:
But while scarce, even these attracted prices in the sale that were well below their catalogue values. For those with means, this could be quite an opportunity.
Canada issued two stamps in 1992 to honour the country’s achievements in space and space technology. The second of the two stamps, the one with the space shuttle flying over the globe, was Canada’s first hologram stamp The best known rarity for the pair is the variety on the second stamp with the missing hologram. We recorded this variety in 1999 when it first appeared at auction. Since then singles, pairs, inscription blocks and sheets have appeared regularly, in fact over 35 times in the past 10 years according to our pricing records. In 2006, we recorded for the first time the variety on the first stamp with the silver colour missing. It sold for $1,200. Last year, a complete sheet of ten appeared on the market and sold for $11,500. The price of $1,600 realized in this sale for a single copy is therefore a new record price. For more details of the sale, please click on the highlights button.
The sale had three new record prices.
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