Kelleher auction Dec. 3-5 offers U.S., worldwide stamps and postal history

By Charles Snee

Daniel F. Kelleher Auctions will offer United States and worldwide stamps and postal history at its Dec. 3-5 Flagship sale in Danbury, Conn. The three-day auction presents 10 named collections featuring a diverse array of subjects, including worldwide airmail etiquettes (labels), Canada and provinces, Spain, worldwide never-hinged stamps, and postal history of the U.S. 1938 Presidential definitive (regular-issue) series.

Stamps spanning the globe are the focus of the first day of the sale, with more than 500 lots of British Commonwealth; Europe and colonies; Asia, Africa and the Middle East; and Latin America.

United States, Confederate States and U.S. possessions take center stage on the second and third days of the auction. All major 19th-century and early 20th-century stamp series are well represented, as are back-of-the-book and revenue issues.

Collectors seeking elusive U.S. definitive issues will have a chance to bid on an 1880 special printing of the 15¢ orange Daniel Webster stamp (Scott 199). Specifically, the stamp is a special printing of the 1879 issue produced by the American Banknote Co. Kelleher states that 37 examples of the 1880 15¢ special printing are known to exist. The example up for bids is accompanied by 1999 and 2008 certificates from the Philatelic Foundation.

The stamp, which Kelleher describes as having “fresh, vibrant color,” is listed with an opening bid of $12,500. The auction firm estimates the stamp at $25,000 to $30,000, against the 2020 Scott Specialized Catalogue of United States Stamps and Covers value of $29,000.

A nicely centered 90¢ carmine and black Abraham Lincoln (Scott 122), the top stamp in the 1869 Pictorial series, is estimated by Kelleher at $20,000 to $25,000, with an opening bid of $10,000. The stamp comes with a 2014 Professional Stamp Experts graded (very fine-extra fine 85) certificate and a 1983 Philatelic Foundation certificate.

Also up for bids is the Richard Levy collection of U.S. Presidential (Prexie) series postal history. Among the key items is a solo use of the 22¢ Grover Cleveland stamp (Scott 827) on a registered cover sent in 1941 from Ithaca, N.Y., to Buffalo, N.Y. In his seminal 1994 book The Prexies, Roland Rustad writes that the 19¢ Rutherford B. Hayes (Scott 824) and the 22¢ Cleveland are the hardest of the nondollar-denominated Prexies to find as solo uses on cover.

The auction also includes a never-hinged example of Spain’s 1938 Defenders of Madrid airmail semipostal souvenir sheet of one (Scott CB6b). Kelleher states that only 1,000 sheets were issued, numbered 00001-01000.

A 2004 Madrid Experts Commission (CEM) certificate accompanies the sheet, which Kelleher lists with an opening bid of $2,000 and an estimate of $3,000 to $4,000.

A nice set of Canada’s 1897 Queen Victoria Jubilee issue (Scott 50-65) is offered with an opening bid of $1,800. Kelleher notes that some of the stamps have hinge remnants. Most of the stamps have original gum or part original gum, according to Kelleher.

The catalog for the Dec. 3-5 Flagship sale can be viewed on the Kelleher website, with online bidding options available. For additional information, contact Daniel F. Kelleher Auctions, 22 Shelter Rock Lane, Unit 53, Danbury, CT 06810.

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