Siegel worldwide auction offers rarity, specialized Israel

By Michael Baadke

Robert A. Siegel Auction Galleries, in association with Charles F. Shreve, is offering two worldwide auctions June 19-20 at the Siegel galleries in New York City.

The auction of worldwide stamps and covers presents nearly 700 lots of classic and modern material, including collections and accumulations that will open the auction session Wednesday morning.

The material up for bids on Tuesday ranges from classic to modern, with particular strengths in Canada, India and China.

Among the items from Canada provinces is an unused 1860 Newfoundland 1-shilling orange on handmade paper without mesh (Scott 15).

Lightly hinged with original gum, this rarely seen item is made even more appealing by its condition. Siegel describes it as “a magnificent stamp” and “without question the finest example of this major British North American rarity.”

The stamp was once in the collection of the famous Count Ferrary and is therefore marked with his small purple trefoil backstamp, along with the signature of Alberto Diena in pencil.

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“This is believed to be the first auction offering of this stamp since the 1921 Ferrary sale, nearly a century ago,” Siegel notes.

The stamp’s value in the 2018 Scott Classic Specialized Catalogue of Stamps and Covers 1840-1940 is $37,500, with the value in italics denoting an item difficult to value accurately.

A 149-lot auction of the Robert B. Pildes collection of Israel’s 1948 Doar Ivri issue is scheduled to begin Wednesday afternoon. A highlight of this sale is the perf 10 by 10 3-mils orange stamp in a tab block of 20 comprising the bottom two rows. Only six tab rows are recorded, according to Siegel, which estimates this original-gum lot at $10,000 to $15,000.

For complete lot descriptions, visit their website, or for more information contact Robert A. Siegel Auction Galleries, 6 W. 48th St., New York, NY 10036.