Lot 614 Canada #CL6 1926 Regina SK to Red Lake Jack Elliot Air Mail Registered Cover, mailed Regina on MAR.22.1926 to Capt. Harrington, Air Pilot, Red Lake Gold Fields. The cover is franked with a CL6 tied by a blue double oval reading “Jack V. Elliot Air Service / Red Lake Gold District / MAR.30.1926” plus 1c, 4c and 8c Admirals. Back shows Regina and Winnipeg c.d.s. datestamps plus a small handstamp reading “RCM / AIR FIELD”. Reduced at right and vertical crease away from the stamps, still interesting and fine. Estimate $150, sold for C$300.00 plus 17% buyer’s premium.
Sparks Auctions
Lot 786, British Commonwealth Collection mostly 1937 Coronation First Day Covers, sold for C$585
Lot 786 British Commonwealth Collection of 68 mostly 1937 Coronation First Day Covers, includes 44 first day covers with Crown over a circle fancy Coronation cachets, including six registered, plus other first days without cachets. Also note four Canadian Royal Visit covers and some other odds and ends. Overall condition is very fine. Estimate $150, sold for C$500.00 plus 17% buyer’s premium.
Lot 106, Canada 1897 three cent bright rose Jubilee, XF NH, sold for C$321
Lot 106 Canada #53 1897 3c Bright Rose Jubilee, mint never hinged, with very large margins and fresh colour, extremely fine. Accompanied by a 2021 Richard Gratton AIEP certificate. Rsv. $200. Unitrade CV$120, sold for C$275.00 plus 17% buyer’s premium.
Lot 366, Newfoundland 1933 Sir Humphrey Gilbert Issue advanced mint collection, sold for C$789
Lot 366 Newfoundland #212-225 1933 Sir Humphrey Gilbert Issue Advanced Mint Collection, all in black mounts on twelve well written-up quadrille pages, starting with a basic set of mint singles, as well as a mint block of every value, with a mix of hinged (usually lightly hinged) and never hinged. Also includes an imperforate (no gum) block of the 1c value, a few line and comb perforation varieties, and a stock sheet with eight additional mint blocks of four. Very clean and overall fine to very fine. Estimate $250, sold for C$675.00 plus 17% buyer’s premium.
Lot 672, 1906-09 correspondence from Norway House, Keewatin, sold for C$1,287
Lot 672 Correspondence from Norway House Keewatin, 1906 to 1909, consisting of fifteen 2c Edward covers (one registered is missing its stamp), each still retaining its original letter inside. These covers are all addressed to Harry Marshall Erskine Evans either in Winnipeg or in Edmonton (he seems to have been travelling between both places in this period). Evans became Mayor of Edmonton in 1918 and had moved to the area to develop a coal mine. The letters were written in a number of different places (as per headlines) including The Hudson Bay Company in York Factory, Fort Churchill, Oxford House, Pepekwatooce, Churchill, God’s Lake, and Split Lake, and all despatched from Norway House Keewatin, except for one mailed from King Edward Man. Before this correspondence was found, only about a dozen Norway House postmarks had been recorded. The covers help to learn how mail was delivered in this part of the world, by analyzing all of the backstamps for routings, etc. These other postmarks include Edmonton, Selkirk, Winnipeg, Gimli, Lac Ste Anne, Icelandic River, Stony Plain and Winnipeg Beach. The letters are a most fascinating read (some are quite long and interesting) were written by, and about a number of people involved in the Northern fur trade, and touch on a number of subjects including the writing of the book Kasba, a Story of Hudson’s Bay (a rare surviving example of this book is included with the lot) and one of the letters includes a draft of the preface page. One of the covers also includes four real photographs of Norway House (very rare). Eight of these letters were extensively written about in issue 72 of The Northerner, the newsletter of the Northern Canada Study Group, a study group of the Postal History Society of Canada (article is included with the lot). A most fascinating and historically important lot, scans show an overview. Estimate $500, sold for C$1,100.00 plus 17% buyer’s premium.