Cherrystone Dec. 4-5 auction offers U.S. and worldwide

By Michael Baadke

Cherrystone Philatelic Auctioneers will present its next auction of United States and worldwide stamps, postal history and collections Dec. 4-5 at its New York City galleries.

The auction includes more than 1,550 lots and will open with U.S. offerings on Tuesday morning.

Two intriguing lots in this sale are both from the 1893 Columbian commemorative issue.

A complete set of the Columbian issue (United States Scott 230-245) is offered as never-hinged single stamps with full original gum and “without any faults which often plague this popular issue,” according to Cherrystone. The 2¢ and 30¢ stamps include attached sheet margin with part of the printer’s inscription; the margin is attached below the stamp on the 2¢ and above the stamp on the 30¢. Cherrystone adds that the stamps are well centered, and advises that each comes with a certificate from the Philatelic Foundation or Professional Stamp Experts dating from 2002 to 2007.

Cherrystone quotes a catalog value of $31,146 for the set and lists an opening bid of $14,000.

Also from the Columbian set is a block of four of the 4¢ blue error of color (Scott 233a). The 4¢ stamp was normally printed in ultramarine, but a small number of stamps are known printed in blue.

Cherrystone explains, “The 4¢ Columbian color error was caused by the use of a wrong batch of ink, and spectrographic analysis has shown that the blue inks of the 4¢ error and 1¢ Columbian have the same components. Stamps from at least two panes reached collectors, and it is likely that many of the stamps have been lost to philately.”

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The never-hinged block on offer has a straight edge at top and minor perf separations, according to the auction description, which also shows a Scott catalog value of $150,000, and a starting bid of $23,000.

Cherrystone notes that the sources of the worldwide material in this sale include George V. Shalimoff’s collections of Russia, M.C. Gilhausen’s Germany and colonies, and David Mace’s collections of China, Chinese provinces and foreign offices.

A selection of material from North Korea includes stamps, postal history and multiple-item lots.

From Poland comes a group of three postage due stamps that are key items in assembling that country’s back-of-the-book issues.

The 1919 1-korona, 5k and 10k stamps are created from 1916 ultramarine postage dues of Austria overprinted in red with “POCZTA/POLSKA” (Scott J8-J10).

The auction offers these stamps each tied on piece with a black Krakow circular postmark.

“A splendid set of high value Postage Dues from Poland,” Cherrystone states, “certainly among world-class rarities: of 10kr, only 40 were printed (80 printed of 1kr and 5kr).”

Citing a catalog value of $37,500, Cherrystone opens the bidding at $15,000.

The lots from this auction can be viewed online in different formats, including as a downloadable PDF document. Online bidding options are available.

For additional information, contact Cherrystone Auctions, 119 W. 57th St., Suite 316, New York, NY 10019.