Grosvenor marks 100th auction with four specialized sales Nov. 9-12

Grosvenor Philatelic Auctions of London, England, is planning four specialized sales of stamps and postal history to celebrate the 100th Grosvenor auction.

The 100th sale is taking place Nov. 9 and will feature part 2 of the Golden collection of Great Britain, offering issues of Queen Victoria and King Edward VII, including varieties and Official stamps.

A separate auction of classic Great Britain will commence on the afternoon of Nov. 9 and conclude the next day. It will include the collection of One-Penny Red stamps formed by W.F. Maddams and postal history of Norfolk from the collection of Patrick Pearson.

Nov. 11 brings the Gary Brown collection of Aden postal history, and the first session of the Grosvenor British Empire and foreign countries auction, which will conclude Nov. 12, ending the current auction series.

The first part of the Golden collection of Great Britain was offered by Grosvenor March 10 and featured issues of King George V to Queen Elizabeth II.

The classic stamps offered during part 2 begin naturally enough with a selection of the 1840 Penny Black and Two-Penny Blue (Great Britain Scott 1-2) and extend through the reign of Edward VII, which ended with his death in 1910.

The auction offers many of the era’s rarities, including an example of the 1882 £1 brown-lilac Queen Victoria stamp on bluish paper with large anchor watermark (Scott 92). The stamp is described as a fine unused (regummed) example with excellent color, accompanied by a Royal Philatelic Society certificate of authenticity.

The stamp carries a 2016 Scott catalog value of $155,000, and is offered by Grosvenor with an estimate of £30,000 to £40,000, which converts to approximately $46,400 to $62,000 three weeks prior to the sale.

Collectors are reminded that Scott catalog values for unused stamps are for examples with original gum.

The Aden collection in the Nov. 11 sale features a number of important postal history items, including the three earliest-recorded letters sent after the territory was annexed in 1839.

Another striking cover from this collection is the only recorded example of a mixed Aden and Yemen franking, on a 1904 registered cover mailed to the minister of foreign affairs in Rome.

The envelope bears a single 5-para ocher stamp and a pair of the 20pa magenta of the 1901 Ottoman issue (Turkey Scott 102 and 104, respectively), plus a block of eight of the 1902 India 2 annas, 6 pies ultramarine stamp (India Scott 64) applied at Aden.

The India stamps are struck with a “B” within squared bars postmark, and the Turkish issue is canceled with a clean Hudeida (Yemen) circular datestamp.

Grosvenor notes that the envelope includes a “good impression of Consulate red wax seal on reverse,” and calls it “a great rarity.”

The cover is listed with an estimate of £5,000 to £6,000 (roughly $7,800 to $9,300).

The British Empire sale beginning Wednesday includes material from the Falkland Islands collection of United States collector and researcher John S. Murdock (1921-2009).

The first item offered in this session is the earliest known letter from the Falkland Islands, written Feb. 15, 1800, mailed to Massachusetts, and struck with an oval New York receiving mark.

Grosvenor describes this as “a key historical document from the early history of the islands,” and “of iconic status in Falkland Islands Philately.”

The fragile folded letter is offered with an estimate of £8,000 to £10,000 (roughly $12,500 to $15,500).

These upcoming auctions are taking place in the Grosvenor auction room on the third floor of the Stanley Gibbons building at 399–401 Strand, London, England WC2R 0LT. This is also the address to contact Grosvenor for additional information.

The lots for each auction can be viewed online at the Grosvenor website with full descriptions and estimates. Additional details about absentee bidding are also available on the website.