Key rarity of Bermuda in Sept. 24-25 Cherrystone auction of rare stamps and postal history of the world

By Charles Snee

Cherrystone Philatelic Auctioneers will tempt bidders with slightly more than 1,500 lots of rare stamps and postal history from around the world during a Sept. 24-25 sale at its gallery in Teaneck, N.J.

The two-day auction will take place in four parts, with sessions each day at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. Eastern Time.

According to Cherrystone, the auction will commence with ample selections of United States, Canada, Great Britain and British Commonwealth. According to Cherrystone, other well-represented areas include “Latin and South America, European Countries, including Austria, France, Germany, Italy, as well as Poland, Russia, Spain and Switzerland.”

The two-day sale concludes with more than 160 “large lots and collections, with individual country albums, worldwide accumulations in cartons, cover lots and much more,” Cherrystone said.

During the afternoon session on Sept. 25, a significant rarity of classic Bermuda will cross the auction block: an unused Bermuda 1874 1-penny Queen Victoria with a handstamped “THREE PENCE” provisional surcharge (Scott 11).

Cherrystone notes that the stamp has been regummed and is centered to the left “as all known genuine examples are found.”

According to Cherrystone, “only one lower left pane of 60 stamps received this provisional surcharge, and of this population there are three blocks of four and the unique block of six, leaving only a possible 42 singles in existence, however nearly ten used examples are thought to exist and surely there has been some natural attrition, leaving scant few mint singles available to collectors.”

Several other examples of this stamp have faults and/or lack original gum, Cherrystone said.

According to a footnote to the stamp’s listing in the Scott Classic Specialized Catalogue of Stamps and Covers 1840-1940, “No. 11 is stated to be an essay, but a few examples are known used.”

The stamp is valued at $19,000 in unused condition in the Scott Classic Specialized catalog. The value is italicized to indicate an item that trades infrequently in the philatelic marketplace and is thus difficult to value.

In the printed sale catalog, Cherrystone lists this surcharged Bermuda 1874 1-penny Queen Victoria stamp with an opening bid of $3,000.

An attractive cover among the offerings of British offices abroad postal history is a letter mailed July 7, 1879, from Nicaragua to New York City.

The cover was mailed with a single 1871 10-centavo vermilion stamp (Scott 6) and two rouletted 1879 25c stamps (12). A handstamp at lower right indicates the letter transited through Colon, Nicaragua, on July 19 before being sent through the British Post Office where British 2-penny blue and 6d gray Queen Victoria stamps were affixed to pay for further transit to New York.

A handstamp at upper left shows the cover arrived in New York on Aug. 10. The “DUE 10 CENTS” handstamp immediately to the right of the New York receiver indicates that 10¢ postage due was collected from the ship captain, Cherrystone said.

Cherrystone makes note of “some hinge toning across the backflap, not at all affecting the appearance of this colorful mixed franking combination.”

Cherrystone is offering this attractive mixed franking British offices abroad cover with an opening bid of $15,000.

Among the more than 160 large lots and collections to be sold during the final session on Sept. 25 is an 1850-1991 Austria collection housed in a Scott album.

Cherrystone states that the collection is mostly complete. Up to 1904, the stamps are used; from 1910 most of the stamps are unused.

Highlights of the collection include a 1936 10-schilling Engelbert Dollfuss (Scott 380), a 1933 Vienna International Philatelic Exhibition souvenir sheet (B111) and a set of four 1946 Karl Renner souvenir sheets (B185-B188).

Other areas represented in the collection are Austrian offices in Crete, Turkish Empire, Lombardy-Venetia, Italian occupation of Venezia-Giulia and Trentino overprints, Serbia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, according to Cherrystone.

Cherrystone is offering this 1850-1991 Austria collection with an opening bid of $3,500.

The catalog for the Sept. 24-25 worldwide stamps and postal history sale can be viewed and is available for download on the Cherrystone website, with online bidding options available through Cherrystone and Stamp Auction Network.

Information also is available from Cherrystone Philatelic Auctioneers, 300 Frank W. Burr Blvd., Second Floor, Box 35, Teaneck, NJ 07666.

Connect with Linn’s Stamp News: 

    Sign up for our newsletter
    Like us on Facebook
    Follow us on Twitter