Lot 648, Great Britain 1840 May 6 stampless folded letter, rated “1” and endorsed “Paid”

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Front from Lot 648, Great Britain 1840 May 6 stampless folded letter, rated "1" and endorsed "Paid"Lot 648 Great Britain 1840 (May 6), Day of Issue of the Penny Black, stampless folded letter, with contents, rated “1” and endorsed “Paid”, neatly struck boxed ARBROATH marking dated MAY 6, to Edinburgh, with next-day receiver struck on front, a rare and exceptional quality cover, a lovely introductory item to a Great Britain collection. Estimate C$1,000.
Back from Lot 648, Great Britain 1840 May 6 stampless folded letter, rated

Sale 51 coming October 17-19, 2024

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Welcome to the Sparks Auctions Fall 2024 sale!

Lot 688 CVR India 1911 (February 18), First Aerial Post registered postcard to Calcutta, 1a stationery uprated with 4a adhesive, tied by neatly-struck rose “First Aerial Post / U.P. Exhibition Allahabad” cachet, registration etiquette alongside, Allahabad despatch and Wellesley Street Calcutta c.d.s. (2½2 Feb) c.d.s. on front, some light edge wear and trivial marks at lower left, a fine and rare registered card, and a desirable example from the world’s first official air mail flight. Estimate C$1,500

We are pleased to offer our traditional selection of quality stamps and postal history of Canada, British North America, and the world. Select single stamps of Canada and B.N.A. are complemented by a range of scarce multiples, plate proofs, die proofs, and more. Our Worldwide section includes artist essays, specimens, and ever-popular varieties and sets of the British Commonwealth. Postal history includes an extensive offering of single covers, including a broad worldwide component, particularly of India and pioneer aviation, with a variety of pilot-signed covers. Our offerings of world postal history collections and accumulations are particularly strong, sure to entice collector and dealer alike.

We encourage all bidders, even those who may not routinely browse our Lots and Collections, to peruse those sections of both postal history and stamps. Far from exclusively voluminous collections and carton lots, these sections also include smaller offerings of material, including stock pages of classic stamps, group lots of covers, wholesale quantities of single stamps or sets, and more. As always, these lots have been extensively photographed, with thousands of high-quality images available online at StampAuctionNetwork.com and Philasearch.com.

For those who cannot attend in person, the sale will be conducted live on StampAuctionNetwork.com, allowing bidders to join us as if “on the floor.” For the first time, our sale will also be available on Philasearch.com, through which we welcome pre-sale bids. For those participating from outside of Canada, we emphasize that our sale is conducted in Canadian Dollars, which may prove advantageous to many bidders who may take advantage of the strength of the U.S. Dollar, Euro, Swiss Franc, or other currencies.

We continue to welcome consignments for our Winter 2025 auction; contact us today to discuss how we may be able to assist. For those who would prefer an outright sale, we are also available to discuss the direct purchase of your collection.

This sale is the result of the dedicated efforts of a core group of professionals, including Eliseo Temprano (President), Peter MacDonald (General Manager), Kate Morrow (Auction Coordinator), and Matt Johnston (Website & Technical Coordinator), as well as an enthusiastic team supporting lotting, sale viewing, and auction day. We thank you for your interest in the sale, and wish you luck with your bids!

Chris Green
Managing Director & Chief Philatelist

Lot 593, extensive collection of mint British Commonwealth King George VI Issues in three New Age Stamp Albums, 1937-1951, sold for C$7,020

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Lot 593, extensive collection of mint British Commonwealth King George VI Issues in three New Age Stamp Albums, 1937-1951, sold for C$7,020Lot 593 Extensive Collection of Mint British Commonwealth King George VI Issues in Three New Age Stamp Albums, 1937-1951, with a few thousand stamps, the vast majority are sets, neatly organized from A to Z issuing countries on Scott album pages. Just a few of the better stamps and sets include Scott #s: Aden 1-12 (c.v. $775 total); Burma O1-O14 ($998 total), Hong Kong 154-166A ($770 total), 178-179 ($225 total); India 150-167 ($406 total), Gandhi set 203-206 ($557 total), New Guinea C46-C59 ($720 total), North Borneo 193-207 ($711 total); Kuwait 45-57 ($247 total); New Zealand fiscals AR75/AR98 including AR88 ($250), AR90 ($400), AR98 ($325), along with stamps and sets cataloguing from $20 to $100 and up. Owner’s catalogue value for the collection totals $56,831 CDN (owner converted 2000 Stanley Gibbons catalogue values into Canadian dollars at time of writing. The collection includes owner’s inventory and calculations). We note fresh colours throughout, and light hinging for the vast majority of stamps, ideal for collectors and dealers alike. We recommend in-person viewing as our online photos show only a sampling. Estimate C$2,500, sold for C$6,000.00 plus 17% buyer’s premium.