The two-day Stamps and Postal History of the World sale at Stanley Gibbons’ Strand salerooms comprises over 1500 lots, with a number of significant single items, multiples and items of postal history appearing in the Great Britain section which will be auctioned from 10am on Friday 22nd June.
The Great Britain section starts with a good selection of postal history, with a 7 May 1840 Penny Black cover (£4600-5000) and another Penny Black on cover to France in 1841 estimated at £4000-4400.
The stamps start with essays and imprimaturs, including a ‘very fresh’ example of the 4d vermilion from plate 8, estimated at £100-1200 (lot 1090) followed by a good selection of line-engraved, with the 1840 2d. steel blue in a strip of five at £2600-3000 (lot 1145) and a mint block of four of the plate 225 1d. at £5000-6000 (lot 1200).
The Queen Victoria section of the sale also includes five examples of the £5 Orange with a spectacular vertical strip of three, lettered CK-CM at £2000-2400.
The King Edward VII section includes an unused collection which contains most ‘Part 1’ listed shades, estimated at £7000-8000 and Queen Elizabeth includes the rare 4d. ‘Flowers’, phosphor, with agate omitted, at £2000-2400 (lot 1427).
Elsewhere there is a strong China section, with no less than three examples of the Mei Lan-fang miniature sheet (est. £10,000-15,000) and four sets of the Poems of Mao Tse-tung (SG 2372/85), as well as other desirable items from the People’s Republic period.
There is also a healthy range of India from Scinde Dawks, including an attractive ½a white SG S1 (lot 492); lithos in multiples; an unissued 2a yellow-green imperf pair (SG50a) and complete collections.
Commonwealth includes strong Australia, with a collection starting with the 1913 set to £2, good Canada, with an unmounted 1897 Jubilee set and Gibraltar has the 1973 4d. ‘Skull’ with gold omitted estimated at £3000-3400 (lot 453).
Ireland has postal history and overprints, with varieties, and there is a strong section of British East Africa, topped by a mint 1912 100r. purple and black on red, estimated at £3000-3400 as well as various 1922 high values.
The sale commences at 10.00a.m. each day and, alone among the major London auction houses, Stanley Gibbons is still holding its buyer’s premium at 15 per cent.