Rumsey Westpex auction series features U.S., worldwide; Concord U.S. collection

By Charles Snee

Schuyler Rumsey Philatelic Auctions of San Francisco will conduct its signature Westpex sale and a specialized United States sale April 27-30 and May 2 in conjunction with the Westpex stamp show to be held April 28-30 at the San Francisco Airport Marriott Waterfront Hotel, 1800 Old Bayshore Highway, Burlingame, Calif., immediately south of the San Francisco International Airport.

The auctions, except for the May 2 session (to be conducted in the firm’s San Francisco office), will be held in the hotel’s Bayside III ballroom. The Westpex sale begins April 27, one day before the show.

The specialized sale will take place April 29 and showcases the Concord collection of U.S. stamps.

The five-day Westpex sale, which includes more than 3,800 lots, will offer a massive array of U.S. stamps and postal history, Civil War postal history, Confederate States, U.S. possessions, British Commonwealth, general foreign issues, and U.S. and worldwide collections.

Included in the U.S. and worldwide offerings is the Frederick Freeman collection of the Philippines.

A specialized U.S. holding that will be up for bids is the William Barlow collection of post office seals.

Among the U.S. rarities to tempt bidders is an unused 1869 90¢ Abraham Lincoln stamp (Scott 122) with exceptionally large margins.

The stamp, which has full original gum that is slightly disturbed, is described by Rumsey as being “well centered amid huge margins all around” and “one of the largest 90¢ Pictorial issues we have ever encountered.”

Accompanying the stamp are 2017 expertizing certificates from the Philatelic Foundation in New York City and Professional Stamp Experts in Henderson, Nev.

In unused condition, a very fine example of the 1869 90¢ Abraham Lincoln is valued at $11,000 in the Scott Specialized Catalogue of United States Stamps and Covers. The stamp is the high denomination of the 1869 Pictorial series (Scott 112-122).

Rumsey lists this handsome and well-centered unused stamp at the Scott U.S. Specialized catalog value of $11,000.

In the introduction to the catalog for the Concord U.S. collection, Rumsey president Schuyler J. Rumsey notes that the collection was assembled over more than 40 years, with “each stamp selected for its individual beauty.”

“The collector handpicked stamps not only for centering, but for color, cancels, perforations, and freshness,” Rumsey said.

“The owner took all of these factors into consideration when judging the overall beauty for inclusion in the collection.”

Rumsey also points out that few of the stamps come with graded certificates because the collection “was formed primarily in the 1970’s, 80’s and 90’s, prior to the current grading system.”

One of the rarities from the Concord collection that will cross the auction block is a used imperforate 1857 1¢ Benjamin Franklin type Ia stamp (Scott 6) that has been graded superb-98 by Professional Stamp Experts. The stamp also comes with a 1997 Philatelic Foundation certificate.

A 1¢ Franklin type Ia stamp is the same as type I at bottom, but the top ornaments and outer line at the top are partly cut away, according to the Scott U.S. Specialized catalog. Type Ia stamps are found only in the bottom row of both panes printed from plate 4.

According to Rumsey, the Franklin type Ia stamp in the Concord collection is just one of two graded superb-98 by Professional Stamp Experts, with none graded higher.

Scott 6 in the grade of superb-98 is valued at $75,000 in the Scott Stamp Values U.S. Specialized by Grade, which gives extended values in eight different grades for selected U.S. stamps.

Rumsey lists this exceptional stamp at the Scott U.S. Specialized catalog value of $9,250, the value for a very fine example without faults.

The auction catalogs for the Westpex and Concord U.S. sales can be viewed online or downloaded from the same site as PDF files. Online bidding is available through Stamp Auction Network.

For additional information, contact Schuyler J. Rumsey Philatelic Auctions, 47 Kearny St., Suite 500, San Francisco, CA 94108.

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