Rare stamps, postal history headline June 13-14 Cherrystone auction

By Charles Snee

Cherrystone Philatelic Auctioneers is serving up a colorful palate of worldwide rare stamps and desirable postal history June 13-14 at their West 57th Street gallery in New York City.

Almost 1,500 lots will be up for sale, beginning with United States issues, followed by Austria, France and Colonies, Germany and Colonies, Italy, Liechtenstein, Poland, Russia, Spain, Switzerland and Scandinavian countries, according to Cherrystone.

During the course of the two-day auction, items are to be offered in alphabetical order by country (British Commonwealth material will follow the Great Britain offerings).

The June 13 session runs through British Commonwealth. Greece leads off the June 14 segment, which concludes with almost 100 large lots and various country collections.

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Among the early 20th-century issues of the United States, the 1901 Pan-American set of six stands out for their handsome, intricate bi-color designs.

Four lots of Pan-American material will cross the Cherrystone auction block, including a bright, clean set of small die proofs from a Roosevelt album (Scott 294P2-299P2).

So named because they were produced during the Theodore Roosevelt administration, just 85 Roosevelt albums of U.S. small die proofs were made. A total of 304 proofs were included in each album, carefully mounted on heavy gray card stock.

Described by Cherrystone as “fresh” and in very fine grade, the Pan-American proof set is listed with a minimum opening bid of $2,400.

Among the myriad highlights of the June 14 session is a spectacular, intact collection of the 1852-56 first-issue stamps of Luxembourg picturing Grand Duke William III (Scott 1-3).

All Scott-listed color and shade varieties of the 10-centime (Scott 1) stamp and 1-silbergroschen stamps (2-3) are represented, with many in pairs, strips of three, and strips of four.

Included among these gems is what Cherrystone describes as the “unique unused block of four with original (toned) gum” of the 1852 10c gray black (Scott 1).

The outer margins, as can be seen in the illustration, are well clear of, to almost touching the design all around.

Another one-of-a-kind item in the Grand Duke William III collection is an 1858 folded letter sent from Luxembourg to Paris.

A single and pair of the 10c gray black, and a single and strip of three of the 1sg brown red (Scott 2) are arrayed across the top of the letter, an eye-catching franking that Cherrystone calls “unique.”

The collection, described by Cherrystone as a “specialized group” having “truly superior” condition and representing “a remarkable assembly of [the] Luxembourg First Issue,” is offered with a minimum opening bid of $130,000.

Bids may be submitted in person at the sale, by mail, or online.

For more information, visit the website, call phone 800-886-9313, or write Cherrystone Auctions, 119 W. 57th St., Suite 316, New York, NY 10019.