Classic U.S., postal cards, more at Kelleher auction Sept. 9-11

In a series of public auctions taking place Sept. 9-11, the Daniel F. Kelleher firm will present United States, British Commonwealth and worldwide stamps and postal history, along with a broad collection of U.S. postal cards encompassing fancy cancels, illustrated advertising covers and more.

The auctions begin at the firm’s Danbury, Conn., offices with the Flagship series sale. The opening session presents classic U.S. stamps and postal history, including a large selection of plate blocks.

A selection of the U.S. Washington-Franklin bluish paper issues of 1909 includes the 5¢ blue (Scott 361) and the elusive 8¢ olive green (363) with attractive centering.

The 5¢ blue, with original gum and lightly hinged, is described by Kelleher as “an incredibly fresh example both front and back with gleaming fresh gum without any handstamps that normally plague these scarce blue paper issues.” It includes a 1993 Philatelic Foundation certificate and a 2011 Professional Stamp Experts certificate graded very-fine 80. The 5¢ blue unused is listed in the 2014 Scott Specialized Catalogue of United States Stamps and Covers with a value of $5,750; this example is offered with an estimate of $5,000 to $7,500.

The 8¢ stamp is “one of the freshest and choicest examples imaginable,” according to Kelleher, and one of about 80 known. The auction listing describes the stamp as very fine with lightly hinged original gum, authenticatedwith a 1972 Philatelic Foundation certificate. The Scott catalog lists the 8¢ stamp at $30,000; the estimate for the example on offer is $25,000 to $35,000.

The offering of the Constellation collection of early U.S. postal cards begins with an impressive selection of advertising postal cards categorized by subject, and continues with postal cards organized by states and territories.

One example of these is the Aug. 10, 1874, circular datestamp and fancy man’s face cancel from New York, N.Y., struck on the 1¢ brown Liberty postal card with small “USPOD” monogram watermark (Scott UX3). Kelleher reports that only two examples are known of this one-day cancel.

Auction lots can be viewed and bids can be placed online at www.kelleherauctions.com.

Information is also available from Daniel F. Kelleher Auctions, 4 Finance Drive, Suite 100, Danbury, CT 06810.