Tag Archives: Single Frankings

April 7, 2015 · 7:36 pm

March 2015 Ebay Report

85.20I hope that everyone who had the opportunity had a pleasant Easter holidays. We start this month off with a couple of items where I was unsuccessful bidder. First up is an 1890 Uniform Penny Postage Jubilee envelope sent to Canada, unusually uprated with a 4d and a 4 1/2d Jubilee paying three times the UPU rate plus registration fee. Apart from being an attractive franking, it has the added interested of a Canadian customs instructional label. It sold for £85.20.

69.50Next we have a rare usage of a “Manchester Philatelic Society War Fund” charity label which I believe was to raise funds for the Boer war. It’s actually the first example I have seen on cover and it’s extra nice that it has the 1/2d vermilion and the 1/2d blue-green. It has some little faults, but I should have bid it up past the £69.50 it realised. I wouldn’t be surprised to see it in a dealer’s stock at £150+.

1887 3d purple on yellow offset varietyThis interesting variety sold for only 40.62. It shows an offset, caused by freshly printed sheets being stacked on top of each other and the wet ink being pressed into the reverse of the sheet above. This is not a common variety on the 3d but would have sold for much more if a complete impression of the stamp could be seen.

69.95

 

 

 

 

 

 

This Bechuanaland Protectorate 1/2d vermilion with double “Protectorate” overprint sold for a strong £69.95

46.94And we finish off with an item that I featured in my June 2012 eBay report; a 1s double rate single franking to New Zealand. Back then it sold for £50.29. This time it sold for £46.94.

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March 4, 2015 · 9:22 pm

February 2015 Ebay Report

Top 5 Items of the Month

160.55We start the month off with this attractive advertising cover from the stamp dealer William Brown of Salisbury. In my ever-expanding “Related Info” section, I have started an encyclopaedia-type listing of famous 20th century stamp dealers and personalities (by started, I mean I have done two…), so you can find out more about William Brown here. Even though it is “tainted” with two 1d lilacs, it is still a very attractive cover and deserving of the £160.55 paid for it. I picked up an even more attractive example (although of different design) from a dealer at Stampex for £140 which goes to show that dealers aren’t always overpriced!


44.51This attractively used Niger Coast 1/2d sold for £44.51 due to the dot between “R” and “S” of “RIVERS”. I’ve not seen this variety before, so I’ll be on the look out in the future to see if this proves to be a constant variety.

51.95

 

 

This cover has a very scarce single usage of the 9d sent to the USA. Unfortunately it was reduced at the left and top, but that didn’t stop it selling for £51.95. Probably paying 3 times the UPU rate with a late fee of 1 1/2d because I don’t think it’s philatelic.

43.10Blocks of the 1s green aren’t rare, but this example with a fresh colour is surely worth more than £43.10!!

21.17Finally we have a postcard sent from Jersey, with a 1/2d blue-green pair cancelled in transit by a French Granville cds, with a French “Boite Mobile” (or Mobile Box) hexagonal datestamp adjacent. Unfortunately the stamps are a little discoloured, but it still sold for £21.17.

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January 31, 2013 · 12:14 am

January 2013 Ebay Report

Top 5 Items of the Month

165.95We start of this month with Bechuanaland Protectorate. This attractive example has the larger and scarcer “Protectorate” overprint (19mm wide). In used condition, it is catalogued by Stanley Gibbons at £425. It fetched a good price at £165.95.

 

 

82.62Next is this registered British Levant cover. It features a pair of 5d Jubilees cancelled by the “REGISTERED / SMYRNA” oval ds, which is much scarce than the standard cds. Even though it is slightly toned and has a portion of the address crossed out, it sold for £82.62.

91.59This 1s green single franking is one of the more scarce (only the 1s green and carmine and 9d purple and blue are more so). This one is paying four times the UPU rate of 2 1/2d to France plus a 2d registration fee. It sold well for £91.59.

28.51This attractive cover quite appealed to me, but not enough to pay more than the £28.51 that it realised. As you can see, it commemorates the anniversary of the accession to the throne of Queen Victoria and the Coronation of King George VI, and bears stamps from Queen Victoria, King Edward VII, King George V, King Edward VIII and King George VI. A very attractive souvenir.

216.08As I’ve mentioned before on this blog, ALWAYS BUY OFFICIALS WITH A BPA OR RPS CERTIFICATE!! I have my doubts about this one, but someone still paid £216.08…

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December 3, 2012 · 10:55 pm

November 2012 Ebay Report

Top 5 Items of the Month


50.89This month could have easily seen a “Top 20” thanks to the amount of interesting and rare 1887 Jubilee items on offer on Ebay. I’ll start you off with my surprise of the month. Following on from last month, this time a single 4d green & brown  “socked on the nose” with a crisp Continental Night Mail cds sold for a very impressive £50.89. Clearly showing the desirability of these TPO cancels.

188.82Destination of the month was definitely this cover going to Vietnam. The stamps both have the often-seen “HUTH” perfin, but not only is the 10d reasonably scarce on cover, it is also uprated with a 2d paying a late fee. This is only the second Jubilee cover I have recorded going to Vietnam, and sold for £188.82.

82.60This stamp is my variety of the month. Cleverly not even described by the vendor, this 4 1/2d carmine and green has the “dot between 4 and 1/2” variety in the lower right corner value. Catalogued by Stanley Gibbons at £ , this unmounted mint corner marginal sold for an impressive £82.60.

~143.82This cover is my used abroad item of the month. Although completely philatelic, I have seen very few covers sent from Ascension. If the colour wasn’t washed from this 1s green, it would have certainly sold for more than £143.82.

Zululand 1/2d vermilion with control letterAnd finally, I end on my bargain of the month (and my biggest regret of the year). This block of 72 Zululand overprint on the 1/2d vermilion, although in slightly poor condition, is very rare with the control letter. Unfortunately I was on holiday when the sale closed, otherwise I would have definitely bid between £300 and £400. It sold for a miserable £88.00.

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June 30, 2012 · 9:40 pm

June 2012 Ebay Report

Top 3 Items of the Month

This attractive, if slightly ragged, cover has two interesting points. Firstly, it is an advertising cover sent from Alfred Smith, the well-known stamp dealer, and prolific maker of advertising envelopes! This one has a 6d and 1d stamped-to-order dies which is much less common on advertising covers. And secondly, it’s going to Turks Island! Due to its condition, it sold for only £87.08. A fine one should fetch double.

This 1s green single franking is scarce, since at this time most countries were part of the UPU, and hence the standard letter rate of 2 1/2d applied. However, New Zealand was one of the few for which letters were still charged 6d, so this double rate cover is a nice example of this scarcer rate. If it were a little bit fresher, it would have sold for more than the £50.29 it realised.

This block of six 1/2d vermilion Army Officials looks pretty standard at first glance. However a closer look reveals that the fourth stamp has a broken L variety in OFFICIAL and the fifth stamp has a broken Y in ARMY. Unfortunately some creasing put me off pushing past £28.70.

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December 22, 2011 · 12:35 pm

December 2011 Ebay Report

Top 3 Items of the Month

I have two rare frankings with the 9d purple and blue this month to show you. The first is a single franking, and the only one I have ever seen. It doesn’t appear to be philatelic, but I can’t make out what rate it is paying, but the crayon markings on the front obviously hold the clue. If someone could help me out it will be much appreciated! It sold for £109.92.

Then only a few days later, this pair on cover sent by the Insured rate fetched £138.00. With the manuscript indicating that the contents was £50, the franking pays 15d in insurance and registration (5d for the first £12, each further insured amount of £12 pounds cost 2 1/2d extra), plus the double the UPU letter rate. Both are very welcome additions to my collection!

This cover definitely interested me, and I was planning to make a cheeky bid, but alas, I forgot about it and it was sold before I knew it…for £139.05! At first glance, it is just a pair of 2 1/2d paying the double letter rate to Italy. Nothing unusual there. But take a closer look at the image and you will notice that it is going to Sir Henry F. Ponsonby, who not only rose to the rank of Colonel in the Grenadier Gaurds and fought in Crimea, but also later became Keeper of the Privy Purse and Private Secretary to Queen Victoria!! Not only that, but the stamps are cancelled by the scarce Royal “V R” hooded cancel of London, with a Buckingham Palace wax seal of the reverse. Making this a wonderful item for the Royalty collector.

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August 30, 2011 · 10:51 am

August 2011 Ebay Report

Top 3 Items of the Month

This newspaper wrapper to La Spezia in Italy sold for £39.49…which surprsied me a little bit. It was something I would have bid on, but it was actually over £30 within a couple of days of being listed. Obviously I’ve slightly underestimated the scarcity of uprated newspaper wrappers with anything other than a 1/2d or 1d.

Control letters are very collectable and rare ones, like this Inland Revenue 1/2d green with control R, fetch good prices. In unmounted mint condition, this block realised £71.82.

3d on Registered envelope paying 4d in registraion

 

 

This registered envelope from Ryde to Southampton was of interest to collectors of the different rates, and fetched £29.56, much more than a normal single franking with a 3d purple on yellow. As can be seen at the lower left of the envelope, there is “FEE PAID” with a manuscript “4” inserted, indicating that the sender had paid for extra compensation incase of loss.

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June 29, 2011 · 9:44 pm

June 2011 Ebay Report

Top 3 Items of the Month

This attractive cover was sent at the printed matter rate with a 1/2d vermilion. However, in order to qualify for this rate, the contents weren’t allowed to contain writing or be sealed. This example was obviously found to contain writing and had “OF THE NATURE / OF A LETTER / 131” handstamp applied with a tax “1” (to pay the extra 1/2d for the letter rate plus a 1/2d fine). It sold for £41.00

This unusual cover has the opposite halves of a 1/2d vermilion and a 1/2d green put together to make up a single 1/2d stamp. What is more unusual though is that it appears to have been accepted to pay the printed matter rate! Every other bisect or cut-and-paste stamp I have seen has been taxed as not paying the rate. I slightly regret letting this one go for only £42.75.

Multiples of the Niger Coast issues are very scarce, and certainly sought after. This block of six 1/2d vermilions sold for £48.60 despite having trimmed perfs at the left hand side.

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May 31, 2011 · 10:00 am

May 2011 Ebay Report

Top 3 Items of the Month

This 1s green as a single franking on cover is quite scarce. However, what makes it more interesting is that it is on a privately printed registered envelope from Stanley Gibbons, along with two of their red wax seals. If I’d had noticed this at the time I would have been more interested, but it fetched a good price at £72.96.

This large piece is unusual not only because it was sent from South Africa during the Boer War, but because it also has the customs declaration form alongside which is the first time I’d seen this before. It bears a 3d and 6d Jubilee tied by a “FIELDPOST OFFICE / BRITISH FORCES S. AFRICA” cds. Strong competition saw this fetch £178.45.

The past couple of months has seen one vendor put up a wonderful collection of cancellations and covers from Niger Coast and the British Levant. This unassuming pair are cancelled by the rubber parcel cancellation of Brass (in violet on the 2d and red on the 2 1/2d). Not only are they scarce cancels, but they’re also very attractive, and fetched £87.00.

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March 7, 2011 · 10:06 pm

Gaertner has scarce 1s green and carmine on cover

Christoph Gaertner Philatelie has this 1s green and carmine on cover in their next auction. Not only are these scarce on cover (just over 50 are known), this is possibly a unique usage, as it was sent at the AR (advice of receipt) rate, with two strikes of the “AR” handstamps adjacent. The starting price was €400, but was unsold. Perhaps because the 1s isn’t particularly tied to the cover, but it does seem to be genuine.

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