Attractive ad covers, more in Feb. 15-17 Kelleher Flagship auction

By Charles Snee

Daniel F. Kelleher Auctions will present an impressive array of United States stamps, essays, proofs and postal history during a three-day sale to be held Feb. 15-17 at its gallery in Danbury, Conn. Each day of this Flagship Series sale will commence at 11 a.m. Eastern Time.

More than 1,200 lots will be up for bids during the sale. Highlights include further offerings from the stock of the late William S. Langs and the Westway and Langstrom collections of U.S. issues. Material from 27 additional consignors will also be offered.

Stamps from the classic period through modern issues are the focus of the first two days of the sale, along with an extensive selection of modern errors, freaks and oddities. The sale wraps up Feb. 17 with U.S. back-of-the-book issues, possessions, Confederate States and United Nations.

Included in the first session, Feb. 15, is a handsome selection of 74 advertising covers from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Many companies during this period used decorative stationery to attract the attention of the recipient and others who saw the envelopes during their postal journeys.

One of the more visually appealing in this group is an all-over multicolor ad cover from the medical firm of Seabury & Johnson in New York City.

The cover was mailed May 5, 1898, to Lembergar and Co. in Lebanon, Pa. A crisp New York, N.Y., machine cancel ties the 1895 2¢ carmine George Washington stamp (Scott 267) used to satisfy the required first-class postage.

Decorative elements include floral flourishes, medallions, a stylized red cross, a torch and an allegorical figure in an ornate frame. Visible on the address panel is a scene of the Seabury & Johnson laboratories.

The corner card (return address) is flanked by leaf clusters and states that the firm produces “medicinal, surgical & antiseptic specialties.”

An expertizing certificate from the Philatelic Foundation dated Dec. 21, 2011, states that the 2¢ Washington stamp represents a “genuine usage.” The cover also has “small corner repairs at top left and bottom right,” according to the certificate.

Kelleher estimates this Seabury & Johnson ad cover at $250 to $350 and lists it with an opening bid of $130.

One of the more unusual errors to cross the Kelleher auction block is a 2000 Space uncut press sheet of five souvenir sheets with the hologram omitted from the round $11.75 Earth souvenir sheet of one (Scott 3412c).

The $11.75 Earth souvenir sheet with the hologram omitted is at the direct center of the uncut press sheet, which is shown cropped here. The holograms are in their normal positions on the two $3.20 stamps in the Escaping the Gravity of Earth souvenir sheet and the $11.75 stamp in the Landing on the Moon souvenir sheet.

Kelleher describes the error as being “fresh and sound” with never-hinged original gum. With the hologram omitted, the error looks like “an irresistible black hole,” according to Kelleher.

Accompanying the error is a 2012 expertizing certificate from the American Philatelic Expertizing Service, the expertizing arm of the American Philatelic Society, stating the error is “genuine in all respects.”

A dash is shown in the unused value column for Scott 3412c in the Scott Specialized Catalogue of United States Stamps and Covers because not enough market data is available to establish a value.

Kelleher is offering this Space hologram-omitted error with an opening bid of $750 against an estimate of $1,500 to $2,000.

Among the 30 lots of U.S. newspaper stamps is an unused (without gum as issued) 1865 10¢ blue green Benjamin Franklin (Scott PR2) that Kelleher describes as “a stellar example with immense color, superior centering, and nary a fault.”

A 2021 Philatelic Stamp Authentication and Grading expertizing certificate assigns a grade of extra fine-90 to the stamp.

According to Professional Stamp Experts’ graded population report for Scott PR2, just one unused example grades higher, at extra fine-superb-95.

PSE has not issued a graded certificate for an unused extra fine-90 Scott PR2.

Collectors should bear in mind that the population reports maintained by Professional Stamp Experts apply only to stamps with PSE graded certificates.

An unused extra fine-90 example of Scott PR2 is valued at $575 in the Scott Stamp Values U.S. Specialized By Grade.

Kelleher lists this desirable 10¢ newspaper stamp with an opening bid of $200 and an estimate of $400 to $600.

Kelleher has prepared a single 252-page catalog for the three-day Flagship Series auction that is available for viewing and download on the firm’s website, with online bidding options available on Stamp Auction Network.

For additional information, contact Daniel F. Kelleher Auctions, 22 Shelter Rock Lane, Unit 53, Danbury, CT 06810.

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