Part 2 of expansive Kugel collection of worldwide stamps and postal history in Sept. 10-11 Cherrystone auction

By Charles Snee

The second part of the massive collection of worldwide stamps and postal history formed by Alfred F. “Al” Kugel (1930-2022) will be sold by Cherrystone Philatelic Auctioneers during a Sept. 10-11 sale at its gallery in Teaneck, N.J.

Each day’s session will begin at 10 a.m. Eastern Time.

Cherrystone offered the first part of the Kugel collection in a sale held June 18-19.

Kugel’s expansive holdings were donated to the American Philatelic Society following his death.

Following the completion of a rigorous appraisal on Aug. 1, 2023, Kugel’s philatelic material and literature were released to the APS.

Invitations to bid on the sale of the Kugel estate were sent following the completion of the Aug. 10-13, 2023, Great American Stamp Show in Cleveland.

Requests for proposals were sent out Aug. 28, 2023, and the APS received seven responses.

“Cherrystone was selected from a field of seven firms from the United States and Europe, vying for the honor of bringing the Kugel Estate to market,” the APS said in a news release published Feb. 28 on its website.

“The first of many to follow, this sale is only a sample of the vast amount of material yet to be presented,” Cherrystone said.

According to Cherrystone, the Sept. 10-11 auction kicks off “with United States Interventions, first in China, during the Boxer Uprising, then in Northern Mexico (looking for Pancho Villa).”

“Spanish American War follows, with U.S. Army in the Caribbean, U.S. Involvement in Haiti, Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, registered mail from the A.E.F. [Allied Expeditionary Force] and the U.S. Army and its Postal Service Abroad during WWII, including ‘Prexies at War’ exhibit,” Cherrystone said. “There are solid selections of U.S. Possessions and Allied Intervention in Russia (quite an astounding showing, with many unique items). There are selections from the specialized collections of Albania, Bulgaria, Crete and others. An avid military historian, Mr. Kugel assembled a splendid collection of the aftermath of the Great War, with French and British Occupation forces in Europe and the Middle East, following the fall of the Austro-Hungarian, German, Russian and Ottoman Empires.”

According to Cherrystone, there are also excellent items from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia and Russia, and numerous uncommon uses from the Holy Land, Lebanon, Syria, Saudi Arabia and Yemen.

Among the many splendid offerings of U.S. postal history from World War II is a personal letter mailed March 13, 1943, from Army Lt. Gen. R.L. Eichelberger, commanding general of I Corps, then stationed in Rockhampton, Australia, to Gen. George C. Marshall, who was then serving as chief of staff at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C.

Because the cover was sent from an Army Post Office, it required only domestic airmail postage, which was paid with a 6¢ carmine Transport Plane airmail stamp (Scott C25).

In its description of the cover in the sale catalog, Cherrystone provides a short review of Eichelberger’s accomplishments during the war.

“Gen. Eichelberger first saw action in World War II in December 1942 in Buna, on the island of New Guinea and with support of the 18th Australian Brigade, achieved what was then one of the first ground victories against the Japanese,” Cherrystone said. “In September 1944 he took command of the newly activated U.S. Eighth Army in Netherlands New Guinea. The following months saw him effectively employing amphibious tactics to lead his forces through many severe island engagements on New Guinea and New Britain. In 1945 he launched the Philippines re-occupation campaign, mopping up Japanese resistance in Mindanao. With the Japanese surrender, Eichelberger landed a small detachment at Atsugi Air Field to begin the Allied occupation of Japan.”

Cherrystone is offering this important artifact of World War II postal history with an opening bid of $230.

Featured in the selections of stamps and covers from the German occupation of Belgium during World War I is an exhibit page displaying the complete set of Germania stamps overprinted “Flandern” (Flanders) instead of “Belgien” (Belgium) and surcharged with new denominations in centimes and francs.

Cherrystone notes that the unused stamps have no gum and states that there are a couple of minor perforation flaws. Accompanying the stamps is a 1986 expertizing certificate from German occupation specialist Emil Ludin (1920-2006).

Kugel’s narrative at the top of the page explains the stamps’ origins:

“In summer 1917, the German authorities devised a plan to create separate administrative areas for Flemings and Walloons to gain support among ethnic activists. This program went so far as to have the Reichsdruckerei in Berlin produce some trial overprints reading ‘Flanders’ and ‘Wallonia’ in early 1918. The plan was not implemented (probably due to the realization that most Belgians would resent partition of the country) but did result in a handful of philatelic souvenirs.”

According to Cherrystone, only two or three sets of these stamps exist, including those in the Berlin Postal Museum.

Cherrystone lists this set of 13 Germania stamps with “Flandern” trial overprints with an opening bid of $23,000.

The catalog for the Sept. 10-11 auction of part 2 of the Kugel collection 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.

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