Asian philately offered in Jan. 9-11 Kelleher & Rogers auction

Kelleher & Rogers Fine Asian Auctions will offer stamps, postal history and more over the course of three auction sessions taking place Jan. 9-11. The auction venue is the Kelleher & Rogers offices on the ninth floor of the Malaysia Building at 50 Gloucester Road, Wan Chai, Hong Kong.

The broad range of material on offer is predominantly Asian, beginning with Chinese area collections and accumulations, and continuing with treaty ports and local posts, empire, postal cards, railway postal history, provinces, foreign post offices, Japanese occupations, Taiwan, People’s Republic of China liberated areas, People’s Republic stamps and postal history, Hong Kong, Macau, Japan and other Asia.

One very attractive cover in this sale is described by Kelleher & Rogers as a “tremendous new discovery and unrecorded usage.”

The 1901 triple-franking postage due cover (opened for display) was mailed from Wei Hai Wei in Northeast China to Manila, Philippines, using two of the 2¢ scarlet Coiling Dragon stamps of the Chinese Imperial Post.

These stamps are postmarked with the Wei Hai Wei double-ring cancel dated May 8, 1901, as well as the square-corner “Post Office Wei Hai Wei” type II tombstone cachet, a usage that Kelleher & Rogers notes is believed to be only the second recorded example of this marking.

Two Hong Kong 2¢ Queen Victoria stamps were added and postmarked in Shanghai, and the cover was marked postage due with a bold “T” handstamp, a manuscript “T5” in blue, and a violet “Postage due six cents” handstamp. Upon arrival in Manila, Philippines 1¢ and 5¢ postage dues (the U.S. overprinted stamps) were added. These are tied by a violet May 27 cancel, and the 1¢ stamp is described as “with tears during use.”

The reverse of the cover also shows a May 19 Hong Kong transit marking and a May 25 Manila arrival postmark.

The cover is offered in the Friday session with an estimate in Hong Kong dollars of $100,000 to $150,000 and an opening bid of $50,000. With the Hong Kong dollar equaling approximately 12.9¢ in United States currency in mid-December, those amounts are roughly equivalent to US$13,000 to US$19,000 for the estimate, and US$6,500 for the opening bid.

Keep in mind that exchange rates fluctuate daily and could be lower or higher at the time of the sale.

The auction also offers a broad selection of stamps from the People’s Republic of China, including a complete mint set of the 1967-68 Poems of Chairman Mao stamps (Scott 967-980) in blocks of four with original gum, never hinged. This appealing set carries an estimate of HK$100,000 to HK$120,000 and an opening bid of HK$50,000.

The auction lots can be viewed and bids can be placed on the Kelleher & Rogers website at www.kelleherasia.com.

Information is also available from the firm’s U.S. offices. Visit www.kelleherauctions.com, or contact Daniel F. Kelleher Auctions, 4 Finance Drive, Danbury, CT 06810.