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Bill Gross’s ‘tête-bêche’ stamp pairs could deliver $420,000

April 12, 2011 By apgetsta Leave a Comment

Article by Paul Fraser

Following his .2m sale of US Confederate Provisionals and British North American stamps late last year, PIMCO’s ‘Bond King’ and the greatest stamp collector of modern times, Bill Gross, is putting another set of extremely fine and rare stamps back into the market.

This time, it is his Western Europe and its Colonies collection on offer. Specifically, stamps from France and Colonies, German Offices and Colonies, Italian States and Spain will be available to collectors for the first time in a number of years.

The sale is his fifth in recent years, following his Great Britain collection (which in realised the highest amount for any single stamp auction ever in 2007), his Scandinavia collection in May of 2008, his British Empire from October 2008 and the double auction of North American stamps in November 2009.

We will bring you a number of the most exciting lots from the sales in coming days, but two key highlights are to be tête-bêche pairs from the 1849-1850 Ceres issue from France.

A tête-bêche, or head-to-tail, pair is where a joined pair of stamps is printed with one stamp inverted relative to the other. These are occasionally produced in error during printing, or sometimes deliberately for collecting.

One of the finest on offer here is a 6c, 1849 25c blue-on-yellowish pair with facing tête-bêche images. Despite a (well-sealed) tear in the lower left corner, this is a beautiful piece with uniformly large margins all around and deep, rich colour on fresh paper.

One of only three unused examples known (and listed in Life magazine in 1954 as an example of a world rarity – an excellent opportunity for investment), this pair was once part of the collection of Count Ferrary, has some original gum remaining and is listed here with a guide price of 5,000.

A cover featuring a tête-bêche pair of the same kind is also on offer with an estimate of ,000.

The second unused tête-bêche pair to lead the sale is an 1849 1Fr light carmine-on-yellowish pair with intense colour on fresh paper and ample to mostly large margins all around (slimmest at the top).

One of four known to exist, and widely recognised as one of the greatest tête-bêche pairs of its kind, the piece has been a key lot in some of the greatest collections of French stamps ever known, including Ferrary once more. It is expected to bring 5,000 here.

The auction, at Spink Shreves Auction Galleries will take place in New York on May 19, 2010 with the proceeds going to Médecins Sans Frontières. Watch this space for more news on the highlights.

Paul Fraser Collectibles: “All you need to know about what is happening in high-end collectibles.”

About the Author

Paul Fraser has been involved in high-end collectibles for over 35 years, selling more than 0m of rare items, including John Lennon’s childhood stamp album to the Smithsonian. Paul Fraser Collectibles offers a free high-end collectibles newsletter service with expert opinion and advice

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Stamp Collecting for Beginning Collectors

April 12, 2011 By apgetsta Leave a Comment

Article by Kerry Duck

Stamp Collecting For Beginning Philatelists

To become a stamp enthusiast with the exciting hobby of collecting stamps, all you need to do is decide on a topic and then purchase some stamps.

If you have particular theme or topic in mind, start with that.

Popular collecting themes can vary from animals, dogs, cats, farm animals, butterflies, birds, flowers, art, sports, Olympics, maps, scouting, space, ships, cars, trucks, trains, planes, caravans, stamps on stamps, famous people, chess, scenery or lifestyle images, pop culture icons, Disney characters, famous individuals, Elvis Presley, Princess Diana, royalty, flags, single countries and/or time periods, historical periods, definitive or commemorative stamps, Worldwide collections, revenue stamps, postal stationery, sheet lets, miniature sheets, souvenir sheets, corner blocks or plate blocks, postmarks, postage due stamps/labels, Philatelic literature, First day covers – (FDCs), counterfeit/forged postage stamps, Cinderellas, Geographic collections and so on.

My suggestion if you are just beginning, would be to focus on the nation in which you live. That’s because your already familiar with your own native country and the postage stamps are readily available from mail delivered to your home.

The best way to further your love of stamp collecting is to immerse yourself by taking advantage of every possible resource available.

There are many different ways and places to find stamps, for a price and for free, both on-line and off.

Surfing the Internet for good stamp dealers with stamp sites offering stacks of assorted wide-ranging stamps packets for sale, is a good place to start. Most collectors find that the larger packets have the best stamps in them.

E Bay is a great resource where you can bid at stamp auctions, as well as buy and sell stamps. On e Bay, you’ll find thousands of auctions for affordable, collectible stamps.

You can get stamps through the mail via Web sites, either by approval (the stamp dealer sends you a collection of assorted stamps and you decide which ones to keep) or you can supply a wants list (when a stamp dealer checks his or her stock and quotes prices for specific stamps you want to collect).

You could entrench yourself in the philatelic community to obtain information. There are forums and groups where you can get together with other collectors with much the same interests to yours.

You can trade with other stamp collectors by joining on-line trading lists or requesting trades via trading groups or forums. There are pros and cons to all on line trading sites, but sometimes it’s just enjoyable to browse what’s offered.

Philatelic exhibitions are an excellent place to get superior information and for meeting stamp traders.

You could join your local stamp club. Most regions have stamp clubs that advertise meeting times in national Philatelic magazines.

You could go through Stamp Collecting magazines looking for ads where you can subscribe to stamp auction catalogs. National Philatelic magazines are a terrific resource for all things philatelic.

Lots of stamp collecting books are available through public libraries and bookstores. Information is freely available on the Internet.

To assist your collecting, you can check the values of your stamps in the most current Catalog.

A cardboard shoe box is a good place to store your stamps where they will be safe and not damaged when you first begin to collect stamps.

When you begin to accumulate a large collection, you’ll need to put your favorites in some sort of logical order in your stamp album.

Whatever storage system you decide to follow is up to you, as long as you display and continue to build up your Postage Stamps Collection.

Happy stamping

My Stamp blog for “Beginning Internet Stamp Collectors” is at

http://aussiestamps.blogspot.com

kerryduck@harboursat.com.au

About the Author

I’m a used Australian Stamp Collector writing Stamp Collecting Articles For Beginning Collectors

Colin Whitehead & Assocs www.cwastamps.co.uk Postal and online stamp auctions. We also buy GB & Commonwealth, thematics, one-country collections, coin covers, autographed covers and postcards. View our current auction in full, and make bids by post or online.
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The ‘Black Empress’ commands $425,000 in Spink Shreves’ stamp auction

April 12, 2011 By apgetsta Leave a Comment

Article by Paul Fraser Collectibles

In New York on January 27, Spink Shreves kicked off its sale of British North American stamps with a very special highlight…

The piece is question was an exquisite example of the Canadian 1851 12d Black on laid paper which has been nicknamed The Black Empress.

The 12d black is always valuable, but this example is in freakishly good condition for a 150-year-old stamp. As the auctioneer put it:

“There is no question that this stamp is the finest mint example in existence.

“Its overall freshness, along with its extravagantly large margins, combined with the fact that it boasts full original gum that has never been hinged – places it in a category unlike any other world-class philatelic rarity in existence.

The Black Empress of Canada

“Truly, it is a miracle how this remarkable stamp survived for nearly 160 years in this condition. While there are two or three mint singles that exist which are quite well margined, along with five pairs (one of which is in the Canadian Postal Archives and another in the Tapling Collection), not one is as superb as the example offered here, nor is any other example never hinged (and certified as such).”

The Philatelic Foundation assigned a grade of Superb 98 to the stamp, which is unheard of when dealing with world-class rarities. Spink Shreves compares it to an example in Bill Gross’s remarkable sale of British North American stamps.

“The last original gum, premium quality, mint example of the 12d Black was in our November 2009 sale of the William H Gross collection of Important British North America …

“While the Gross example is a wonderfully choice stamp, its margins are not near as large as found on The Black Empress and, more significantly, it was hinged, as is every other known single or pair – except for the exciting example offered here.”

The Empress did not disappoint achieving a bid worthy of a King’s ransom: 5,000.

For images and more see Paul Fraser Collectibles: you’re #1 source for global collectibles news

About the Author

Paul Fraser has been involved in high-end collectibles for over 35 years, selling more than 0m of rare items, including John Lennon’s childhood stamp album to the Smithsonian. Paul Fraser Collectibles offers a free high-end collectibles newsletter service with expert opinion and advice

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