June 21, 2014 · 3:05 pm

May 2014 Ebay Report

Top 5 Items of the Month

481.39We start May’s report off with this very attractive used block of 12 of the 1s green with neat “St. Johns Wood / Circus Rd. N.W.” cds. Multiples of the 1s green are by no means rare. The thing that is a huge factor in the price of such a multiple is the freshness of the green, as the colour all to easily becomes washed when immersed in water. This block fetch a very handsome £480.

GB Used in AscensionThis 2 1/2d is scarce because it has a crisp cds of the island of Ascension. All the Jubilee stamps are difficult to find used in Ascension, with the Stanley Gibbons catalogue indicating quite strongly that the 4 1/2d is by far the rarest. This stamp sold for £73.92.

 

 

29.43 This item drew my attention because it has been sent to Guatemala (making it the 3rd example so far that I have recorded with this destination). What makes it even more interesting is that the total franking is 2s4d. Although they all have the “HUTH” commercial perfin which detracts slightly. I was the only bidder and snapped it up for £29.43.

45.86mmI hate shades. I really do. Back in my newbie days of collecting I was caught out by the 2d green and scarlet to the tune of £210. The stamp was sold on eBay by a reputable dealer who had left it on a Stanley Gibbons stock card; proving how difficult these things are. Of course buying over the internet, and relying on your computer monitor’s colours makes this even ore trickier. However I would say with great confidence (now I know better!) that this 2d has the rarer shade of red for the duty tablet. There is a couple of tiny marks on the stamp which put me off bidding (rule number 1: Always go for top quality!) but even so, it’s a very good buy for £45.86,

8.80And finally another item of destination mail. Although far from being a sexy destination, this is only the second cover going to Luxembourg that I have spotted. It sold for £8.80.

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May 13, 2014 · 9:01 pm

Grosvenor to sell the Dr. Huggins collection of British Levant

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On May 21st, Grosvenor will auction the British Levant collection of Dr. Alan Huggins. The highlight (for a Jubilee collector at least) is certainly the cover pictured to the left which features the rare “Express D’Orient” label in red tied to a cover along with three 40pa on 5d. It is estimated at £800-1’000 and I wouldn’t be surprised if it fetched double.

Dr. Huggins MBE, RDP, FRPSL, is a renowned and highly respected philatelist who is a past President of the Royal Philatelic Society. He specialises in postal stationery so the sale features unique and very rare usages of newspaper wrappers, stamped envelopes, postcards and registered envelopes in the British Levant.

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May 13, 2014 · 8:46 pm

April 2014 Ebay Report

Top 5 Items of the Month

9.04We start this month off with one of my favourite collecting areas at the minute; destination mail. I thought that this would have been a rare example of a newspaper wrapper going to the small island of St. Thomas in the Caribbean. However it was one of nearly 10 that have appeared in the last two months, and sold for only £9.04. One slight detraction with newspaper wrappers as destination mail is that there is never an arrival marking.

56.75Following on from last months crude forgery of a Board of Education stamp, this O. W. Official fetch a similar price at £56.75. However I THINK that this is actually a genuine example. Many of the genuine examples I have seen have the Parliament St. cds.

 

 

139.00Another Official for you. This one being the common 1/2d green I. R. Official. However it is very scarce on cover. This one is even more interesting because it is a turned cover with the other side franked with a 1d lilac. The extra unfranked 1d lilac next to the 1/2d probably paying the postage due as presumably the rate should have been 1d both ways. I need to have a closer look when it pops through my letter box. I was the only bidder at £140.

33.80This attractive Boer war franking sold for £33.80. The interesting aspect being that it is an Army Telegraph printed envelope. Normally this franking is less than £10.

70.75

 

 

And finally the most fought over item of the month. This attractive cover to Egypt features two postage dues as the rate was 2 1/2d and not 1d. Final price: £70.75

 

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April 29, 2014 · 8:03 pm

March 2014 Ebay Report

55.00 mh var not describedStill have some catching up to do, so here is the March report…

First two items up show varieties not described by the vendor. This 10d has the constant variety “broken triangle” below the Queen’s head. Why this is not listed by SG is beyond me. Even undescribed, this mint hinged example sold for £55.00. Retail about £150.

 

 

32.00mm

This mint hinged 1 1/2d shows a retouched duty tablet at the left side and sold for £32.00. A few years ago I used to pick up items like these two for no premium over a normal stamp. Just goes to show that there are more eBay hunters these days looking for these valuable varieties. However the retail price is still £150+ if you can find one.

 

 

56.80 fake

Next up is a familiar story that I’ve repeated several times. Crude forgeries like this 5d Board of Education which sell for stupid money (£56.80 in this case). For officials, please, please buy from a respected retailer with a RPS or BPA certificate.

206.50 mnh

 

 

 

These panes of 20 of the 4 1/2d are fairly common, but very attractive. If you want one, hold out for a perfect pane with no creases and mnh. This very fine example one sold for £206.50 and is the right price. As is the theme of this month, look out for the catalogued plate varieties for extra interest.

31.90And finally, 1/2d control pairs are proving to still be a highly competitive collecting area. This quite common “L” control in mnh condition sold for £31.90. I think that’s more than what a dealer would charge.

 

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April 7, 2014 · 10:36 pm

March 2014 Retail Items of the Month

Top 3 Items

Literature! You can’t be a good philatelist unless you know what you’re doing! This month features 3 vital sources for the Jubilee collector all available on Bill Barrell’s website.

78655_1024x1024First off is an essential set of works for the British Levant collector (not just for those who collect the Jubilees) produced by the GB Overprint Society. They cover the Queen Victoria issues, Edward VII issues, George V issues, 1921-23 Overprinted issues, Postal Stationery, Cancellations & Cachets and Rates. If I could have found these when I was just starting out it would have helped me greatly. Snap all 7 up for only £25. And become a member of the GB Overprint Society while you’re at it!

 

78640_1024x1024The next important item of Literature is for Niger Coast collectors. Specifically of the provisional surcharges, entitled “The Oil Rivers and Niger Coast – Surcharge Provisionals and Bisected Stamps” by John Sacher. This is THE reference on these stamps, and given the expense of the rarest examples, vital for anyone considering to collect these issues especially for only £8. Also look out for the Ammendments printed in the “The London Philatelist” several months later.

 

79449_grandeAnd thirdly is a treatise by Hilary Wellsted about the Express mails service that began in 1891, and explains the various rates. Yours for £15.

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April 1, 2014 · 10:58 pm

February 2014 Retail Items of the Month

Top 3 Items of the Month

Zululand set on pieceThis month is dedicated to Stanley Gibbons! Not too often will I say this, mainly because they are expensive but they do get some great Jubilee stamps! And the first item is this beautiful piece with the complete set of the Zululand Jubilee issue tied by Eshowe cds. Stanley Gibbons were listing this on eBay for £300. Unfortunately at the time of going to press, it is no longer available. Kicking myself a little bit for not snapping it up.

743278This item here is a marginal block of four from setting 3B. This is in reference to the continuous purple line and intermittent blue lines in the margins around the stamp. This is actually not an area of Jubilee collecting I have got into yet, as it can get expensive for the rare (sometimes near unique) settings on all the values. This one has a Wiseman scarcity rating of J (A being the most common and M being unique), and sold for £450.

1901 2d Composite Paste Up essay of theJubilee seriesAnd we finish off with an expensive rarity. It is a 1901 2d composite “Paste Up” essay with a lithographed three-quarter face portrait of King Edward VII facing left cut and pasted in to an 1887 2d green and red Jubilee. It is believed to be one of only two or three examples in private hands. These series of essays will be the subject of a future article. When I find the time… For now, it’s yours for £10’000.

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April 1, 2014 · 10:35 pm

February 2014 Ebay Report

82.48Sorry folks. To say I’m behind in my updates is an understatement… Oh well, let’s pretend that I’m not a month behind and look at the highlights of February.

First off is a scarce 1s5d franking to the USA. The 1s green is by no means common on cover, and this example is particularly attractive with the added bonus of having the “POSTED OUT / OF COURSE” handstamp. This means that the sender more than likely popped it into a postbox instead of registering it with the Post Office. Final price: £82.48

227.60Next is an item I was hoping to get for a bargain. Those hopes evaporated quickly as bidders competed against each other seemingly every day to get their hands on this. Although not at all described, the cover features a rare and highly collectable “LATE BOX” hooded cds. This being an example of the Bradford. I believe this was applied to mail posted at a special late mail box at the train station. It fetched £227.60.

124.47This cover was certainly the surprise of the month. Jubilee covers going to China are reasonably scarce. But I can only think that the fact this example is going to the British Legation in Peking made the difference, because the cover to China in my collection cost me about £10. Somebody paid £124.47 for this one…

20.35Since there has been a recurring theme of parcel post labels in recent months, I thought that this single 9d on a Stockton-On-Tees parcel label was worth a mention. I think I got it at a good price: £20.35.

90.00And finally another cover for the cancellation enthusiast. This cover actually peaked my interest because it’s a mixed reign franking. However on close inspection you can see that it has the rare “LONDON & HOLYHEAD / UNITED STATES MAIL” cds and matching “K48” barred numerals. Again this was not described by the vendor so I got it for a great price! Unfortunately as it was sent from America, the nasty customs people caught it on it’s way to the UK and charged me an whopping £21 on top. Meaning I paid about £90 in total. Still a good buy I think.

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February 28, 2014 · 12:14 pm

Jubilees on show at Spring Stampex

2014-02-21 08.58.00iiI’m lucky enough with my job as a philatelist with David Feldman SA that I get to go to Stampex twice a year. Not only do I get to meet fellow collectors, I even get to see some nice Jubilee material (although mostly on dealers’ stands). However this time at Spring Stampex was an exception. One of the best collections on display was David Turner’s Ocean Penny Postage Propaganda Envelopes collection. These were made to publicise the need for cheap communication with the United States, from the 1850s onwards until its eventual introduction in KEVII’s reign. Everyone I had seen previously was from the 1850s to the 1870s. So it was with great surprise that I spotted three covers with 1/2d vermilion frankings! Featured here are two examples from the collection. There was even a collection of QV controls on display, albeit without any stand out items.

2014-02-21 08.57.40

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February 11, 2014 · 3:02 pm

January 2014 Retail Items of the Month

Top 3 Items

Well my new blog feature lasted exactly one month… If I fail again I will be less ambitious and do this every quarter. We’ll see…

20140208-133637.jpgAnyway, I will recommence with this envelope sent from Prince George, Duke of York (future King George V) to his wife “Her Royal Highness The Duchess of York” in Germany and initialled at the lower left. Andrew Lajer is asking £350 which seems reasonable to me considering the desirability of Royalty philatelic items.

1887 3d purple on yellow plate proofNext up is this attractive and scarce imperf. plate proof of the 3d purple on yellow. I think it’s a snip at £100. For sale by Elstree Stamps on eBay.

1-2d vermilion clock

And now, the pièce de résistance of any Jubilee collector’s den: a clock with the 1/2d vermilion!!!! Currently on sale by cafepress.com for a bargain £14 plus postage. As I write this I’m looking at mine hanging proudly on the wall :-). They also have a huge range of printed t-shirts, hoodies, etc. for all stamp collectors.

 

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February 2, 2014 · 9:02 pm

January 2014 Ebay Report

Top 5 Items of the Month

2.55January was a month of disappointments for me. And not because of any failed New Year’s resolutions I might add! Nope, this month saw me completely miss out on three of the five featured items here. The first was this slightly scruffy looking cover to Egypt. However upon arrival it was redirected and featured several different Egyptian backstamps making this much more attractive than the £2.55 realisation.

18.76My next frustration was this 10d single franking parcel label. Although slightly scruffy, it’s a very scarce usage and I would have bid beyond the final price of £18.76.

 

36.77This parcel label is probably just as scarce. It features a pair of 6d purple on rose paying a 6d rate for the parcel post plus an additional 6d for registration and insurance

 

27.10This attractive cover to Switzerland was redirected on arrival, with a 50c postage due applied to pay for the additional fee required for Express delivery. Most unusual and fetched a decent £27.10.

45.87

 

 

And finally my nemesis has escaped me again!! I’ve still yet to purchase any of the 1/2d vermilions with Commonwealth overprint WITH THE CONTROL. This example was just like so many before; it was sold before I even knew it was available. They are very scarce and also highly collectable. So I was shocked to see that this one only sold for £45.87. A proper bargain.

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