Well-known Wall Street money manager, William H. Gross, Founder and Co-Chief Investment Officer of PIMCO, is selling two portions of his extensive stamp collection to raise funds for the Smithsonian National Postal Museum. Estimated to bring $3 million in an auction in New York City on Thursday, November 19, 2009, many of the 214 Civil War-era Confederate States and early Canadian postage stamps are one-of-a-kind or the finest known.
The public auction will be conducted by Spink Shreves Galleries (www.SpinkShreves.com), 145 W. 57th, 18th Floor, in New York. All proceeds of the sale will be donated by Gross and his wife, Sue, to the Smithsonian National Postal Museum in Washington, DC.
The historic items include a unique 1861 Confederate postage stamp from Mount Lebanon, Louisiana that is the world’s only known stamp misprinted with a mirror image of the intended design. In 1999 Gross paid a record $385,000 for the stamp that is still affixed to the envelope on which it was mailed nearly 150 years ago.
A highlight of his British North America collection is a mint condition 1851 Canadian 12 pence denomination black stamp depicting a young Queen Victoria of England.
“It is one of the world’s rarest stamps, an absolutely superb mint example of this legendary classic that still has the original (adhesive) gum on the back,” according to Charles F. Shreve, President of Spink Shreves Galleries, who estimates it will sell for $150,000 or more.
Gross recently pledged $8 million to create a 12,000 square-foot gallery in the Smithsonian National Postal Museum’s planned, new street level facility in Washington, DC. This auction is expected to raise about $3 million as part of that donation.
“With all sale proceeds being given to the Smithsonian National Postal Museum, I hope that all collectors will aggressively participate in these two auctions, not only to add wonderful rarities to their collections, but to help ensure that future generations of collectors will be created and introduced to the hobby we all enjoy,” said Gross.
“In June 2007, Mr. Gross began selling portions of his collections with the intent of donating the entire sale proceeds, over $12 million so far, to various charities and nonprofit organizations that have special meaning to both he, and his wife, Sue,” explained Shreve.
Lot viewing for all items in the auction will be held at the Spink Shreves Galleries, 145 W. 57th Street, in New York City, will be November 16 – 18.
For additional information, contact Spink Shreves at (212) 262-8400 or visit online at www.SpinkShreves.com.
