Category Archives: Ebay Reports

December 9, 2014 · 9:03 pm

October 2014 Ebay Report

Top 5 Items of the Month

$157.00 and $128.27Sorry for the delay ladies and gents. Let’s pretend it’s still October… We begin with a couple of surprises for you (and me) this month.

These two scruffy looking covers sold for $157 and $128 respectively. Both are printed covers from the Salvation Army, with frankings with matching “S” perfins. Not only that, but they include their original contents, the first even with a publication. This is the first time I have seen such a premium for a Christian themed item.

82.28

This is one I wish I hadn’t missed. A 2 1/2d used in Niger Coast. They are pretty common with the Niger Company Territories violet box ds of Burutu, but this is very scarce with a thimble Bonny River cds. Catalogued by SG at £450, it sold for £82.28.

$84.48

This beautiful franking is not only a beautiful franking, but it’s being sent to Indonesia! Although I’m discovering that this isn’t such a rare and exotic a destination as it sounds. It’s paying 9 times the UPU rate, so it’s possibly even a proper usage. I should have gone for this. It sold for only $84.48.

7.60

And finally a cover not described correctly by the vendor. Not that a quick look won’t reveal why it’s worth more than the £7.60 it fetched. As the imprint suggests, it was sent from the Postal Department in Natal, South Africa. Originally unfranked, a 2 1/2d Jubilee was added and cancelled in London for it’s onward journey to the USA.

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October 24, 2014 · 3:02 pm

September 2014 Ebay Report

Top 5 Items of the Month
70.00September was a good month for the Jubilees (please ignore the fact that it’s nearly November…). I was actually a little spoiled for choice! First we have a cover sent from the USA with 1883 Washington 2c pair and 1887 Franklin 1c, redirected on arrival in England with two 1887 1/2d vermilion paying the single letter rate. Not a common franking as US/Jubilee combinations are more often seen with later US issues. It sold for £70.

21.01This little scarce book on the control letters on the 1881 1d lilac, 1887 1/2d vermilion and 1900 1/2d blue-green sold for £21.00. Although it won’t have any information that can’t be found in the essential Queen Victoria specialised catalogue by Stanley Gibbons, it’s still a nice addition to a Jubilee collector’s philatelic library.

43.00Another redirected cover with mixed country franking from the same seller. This time from India. As coincidence would have it, I bought a very similar cover the same day this one finished for £25 (a bit tatty on top unfortunately but still attractive) which bore a 1a brown instead of the 1a plum which this cover features. I had already set my heart on making this a pair with mine to make an attractive page. Alas, I underbid the cover to £43.

103.00mmThis Zululand set with Specimen overprints sold for a very reasonable £103 in mounted mint condition. I already have this set and I paid more than that…

31.98 (me)And finally we come to the only item I actually added to my collection this month. This registered envelope was sent at 12 times the UPU rate with five 6d purple on rose, plus 2d registration (as noted at the lower left) paid by the envelope. The peripheral wear and the US customs hs also indicating that something heavy was posted inside. I was very happy to add this multiple franking for £31.98.

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August 30, 2014 · 8:49 pm

August 2014 Ebay Report

Top 5 Items of the Month

A busy month of exciting Jubilee items means this post comes just 5 days after my late, late post of last month.

1900 1s green and carmine on coverFirst off is the item I was most excited about. Number 48 in my census of 1s Green & Carmine covers. This is the only one I have recorded with a “LATE FEE 1/-” handstamp (which is fantastic because there is no need for guess work to work out what the franking is paying!). A good addition to my collection at £407.99 even if I was the only bidder.

92.90Next up is a cover sent by the Continental Night Mail. This is the second example I have seen come up on eBay in recent times. Sent from Crédit Lyonaise Bank, the 5d pair and 1 1/2d have the bank’s perfin and are tied by the “CONTINENTAL NIGHT MAIL” duplex with “CS / 2″ (denoting that it was posted at Cannon St. Post Office). It sold for £92.90.

57.00This is the second item this month with a “LATE FEE 1/-” handstamp (although for those that care, it has different dimensions to the one on the 1s cover above). Even though this is just a front, it’s an unusual franking with the 1s green and 4 1/2d green and red. It sold for a solid £57.

70.66I had been looking for a 1/2d vermilion franking with a Railway stamp for ages. And I finally got one last month for a very good price. So I wanted to see it sell more than the £50 I had paid for mine, but I didn’t have to help it as it reached £70.66.

125.00From the same vendor as the first three items, this was one I would loved to have had. Sent from Transvaal to England, the cover was then redirected by the Continental Night Mail with a 1 1/2d, 4d, KEVII 1/2d and 1d. If I hadn’t had my eye on the 1s cover I would have probably pushed it a bit further than the £125 realisation

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August 25, 2014 · 10:10 pm

July 2014 Ebay Report

Top 5 Items of the Month

266.64aLate again… :( After having to cheat last month due to a slow June, July has not disappointed. I start with this unassuming postcard sent from Austria to the UK, and then redirected to Ireland with my favourite stamp! Great! Another mixed country franking to add to my collection! Unfortunately the final price of $450 (£266.64 to me) blew me out of the water. I had thought this might have been a case of two people putting in big bids but not expecting anyone else to care. However, there seemed to be 18 careful bids up to this figure. A closer look revealed it was a printed advertising card from Sigmund Friedl. A quick google search and old faithful Wikipedia showed me the light. It turns out the Sigmund Friedl is one of the most famous philatelists, having sold the Sweden Tre Skilling Banco for a sum of 4000 gulden to the famous collector, Philipp von Ferrary before turning to defrauding collectors in later life. So a very interesting item for the philately historian.

55.74This interesting piece caught my eye, but I wasn’t that excited to pay £55.74 for this 2 1/2d “in combination” with a Spanish 25c, cancelled in Seville. My opinion is that the 25c covered the cost of postage, and the 2 1/2d was fortuitously cancelled at the same time.

57.00Controls seem to be more popular than ever, with even common corner pairs selling for £20 plus. So I wasn’t surprised that this duo sold for £57 even though they both had faults!

44.40This attractive piece has six 1/2d vermilions cancelled by the rubber datestamps of the Army Post Office at Modder Spruit. My second use of Wikipedia in a month reveals that “Modderspruit is a town in Bojanala District Municipality in the North West province of South Africa.” Short and sweet… I’m still learning about Boer War philately, but my gut says it must be scarce, and I’ve never seen this town cancel before. If only it were a complete cover! £44.40 is a good price for a piece though.

39.00And last but not least…I couldn’t let a month go by without a bit of destination mail! New Zealand isn’t the rarest of destinations of course, but as this letter was sent underpaid, the New Zealand post office struck it with a nice “TO PAY / 5d / DOUBLE DEFFICIENT POSTAGE” tax handstamp. Even though it’s a little aged, it sold for £39.

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July 9, 2014 · 8:31 pm

June 2014 Ebay Report

Top 5 Items of the Month

51.83

I’ll admit that I’ve cheated a little bit this month. Two of the 5 items actually sold in July…so I’m going to have to look extra hard for my July report.

And I’ll commence with this very attractive advertising postcard for the Anglo-Bavarian Brewery. The illustration continues on the reverse, and for added interest, the 1/2d vermilion also has the company perfin. Not surprisingly this sold for £51.83.

32.75This vertical pair of the 2d green and carmine cover is one that I wanted to add to my collection but missed out on. As you can see at the lower left, 5d of the franking (don’t forget about the 2d registration die on the reverse) has gone to an increased registration fee for extra compensation. Final price was a reasonable £32.75.

40.88This used pair of the 1/2d vermilion with Army Telegraphs overprints is very scarce in used condition because all the telegraphs were supposed to be destroyed! It sold for £40.88.

70.00Another advertising cover with a 1/2d vermilion sold for £70. This one is for Lee’s Art Studios at Portrush in Northern Ireland. The added interest is that the image depicts Dunluce Castle..

113.86And the final items is this rare single usage of the 1s green and carmine on a parcel label, this being the second I have seen. It sold for £113.86.

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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 · 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 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 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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