April proved to be a busy time for philatelic auction companies. One of the more interesting and unusual sales was at Corinphila in Zurich on April 24th-26th, where they sold the “Severin” collection of UPU. The highlight (for me at least) was this beautiful Reply Paid Letter hand-painted essay. Estimated at a meagre 1’000SFr, I bid it up to 4’200Sfr before dropping out (likely beaten by Stanley Gibbons but we’ll see…). At this price it was still below what it’s really worth.
Also of note in their main sale was a cover sent to Tunisia and franked with postage dues on arrival which fetched 240Sfr plus commission. Its irregular shape likely putting more bidders (like myself) off. As well as a 1s green and carmine on cover with sold for 400Sfr plus commision. This being the 59th that I have recorded.
The 1887 Jubilee Issue 
Stanley Gibbons were indeed the winning bidder of the Reply Paid Letter essay, as well as the 1s green & carmine on cover. Both are on their GB August 2012 retail list, with the essay at £7’500 and the cover at £975.