U.S., worldwide material in H.R. Harmer April auction

By Michael Baadke

The upcoming auction from H.R. Harmer will include United States, British Commonwealth and worldwide stamps, covers, collections and accumulations.

The auction is scheduled for April 4-6 at the Hilton Costa Mesa, 3050 Bristol St., in Costa Mesa, Calif.

Not far into the auction’s first session are various lots offering stamps and postal stationery overprinted "UNIVERSAL POSTAL CONGRESS" prepared as specimens for the 1897 gathering of the world’s postal operators.

The first of these offerings includes the overprinted sets of regular postage (Scott 264S-278S), 10¢ special delivery (E5S), postage dues (J39S-J44S) and newspaper stamps (PR114S-PR125S). Stamped envelopes and postal cards from this specimen issue are represented in separate lots.

A selection of postal stationery from U.S. territories includes some scarce and attractive varieties from Hawaii.

Among the Honolulu Harbor envelopes is a used example of the 1893 10¢ black with red "Provisional Government 1893" overprint (Scott U14) addressed to Soldin, Germany.

The imprinted stamp is struck with a black Honolulu duplex cancel dated Jan. 5, 1894. Transit markings from San Francisco and New York are on the back, along with a Soldin arrival marking.

H.R. Harmer describes the envelope as the earliest known use of the "blue inside" 10¢ envelope with red overprint, and one of just two known used entires.

The catalog value in the Scott Specialized Catalogue of United States Stamps and Covers is $13,000 (in italics, denoting an item difficult to value accurately). The envelope will be auctioned with a starting bid of $5,000.

The auction offers an array of postal history, including hundreds of U.S. items, with more than 100 Union and Confederate States Civil War covers.

The individual auction lots are posted online at https://hrharmer.com, with online bidding options available. The auction catalogs can be downloaded as PDF files.

For additional information, contact H.R. Harmer, 2680 Walnut Ave., Suite AB, Tustin, CA 92780.