Canadian Stamp Auctions

Eastern was fast off the mark in organizing the first auction of 2010. We liked this trio of early imperforate pairs from Canada’s Numeral set:

Lot 1655 Unitrade 75vi Catalogue $900 Realized $690

Lot 1659 Unitrade 79ii Catalogue $900 Realized $525

The third pair is of particular interest. According to Unitrade there are 250 known imperforate pairs of Scott 77d. Prices for these pairs have ranged from $650 to $1,800 in the past 5 years. There are 3 versions of this 2¢ imperforate; Scott 77c, which is Die I with gum, Scott 77d which is Die II without gum and 77iv, which is Die I on vertical wove paper without gum.

Unfortunately for 77d, there seems to be an increasing recognition that it is not as rare as once thought as evidenced by the fact that over the past 2 years, Unitrade has dropped the stamp’s catalogue value from $2,500 to 1,250.

2¢ Overprint – nicely centered

It always amazes us to see strong prices like this for these overprints which are relatively common. The key to its value is how well centered it is.

Looking at the above example makes us realize that there were two centering problems faced by the printers back in 1899. First, how to center the image which they clearly succeeded in doing and second, how to center the overprint. In this they were less successful. But, bearing in mind that about 80% of the images on these early stamps were off center, the printers did a pretty good job with this stamp.

5¢ Admiral – Not quite perfect

We picked this stamp for review for a reason. There are few of us who are lucky enough to own a VF NH well centered 5¢ dark blue Admiral. These are very rare. A copy sold in 2006 for over $1,200.

This one was centered slightly UL and and was very lightly hinged. It sold for $201 against a catalogue value of $135. One thing we can guarantee is that we had no idea what it would sell for. With over 185,000,000 copies printed and every one unique in its qualities, one could only know the above stamp’s true value after the bidders had a go at it.

20¢ Harvester – Slightly disturbed gum

If there were 185 million copies of Scott 111 issued, and that’s a lot, there were only 150 pairs of Scott 175a issued. Taking these relative quantities into account, you would think the price ratio of this stamp vrs. the Scott 111 would be far different. This one had slightly disturbed gum. Since imperforate pairs normally come in excellent condition, this negative feature condemned the above pair to a relatively low price.

35¢ Knitted Doll – missing gold and tagging

There’s something so simple and yet so appealing about this stamp issued in 1979. Very generally, from 2005 to 2008 it attracted prices at auction of about $600. But, in the past 2 years, that has moved up to around $900. Interesting !

“A” Coil – imperforate pair

This stamp, which seemed so special when it was issued, has clearly been a disappointment in the years that followed. The best price we have recorded for it was $358, and that was back in 2004.

For the record, we still think that some day it will do well at auction so don’t be afraid to acquire a pair. But its day is clearly yet to come.

45¢ Flag – Gutter Strip

There are quite a few varieties of this gutter strip. This one came from the top of the sheet and had a light bend in the gutter as seems common for this variety. The price of $1,850 is a very strong one. This is a bit surprising as we have seen a number of these strips go unsold at auction in recent years. We feel that, because of its uniqueness, it should command a strong price and are glad to see this result.

For further details of the sale, please click on the highlights button.