U.S., worldwide, more in Dec. 14-15 H.R. Harmer sales

By Charles Snee

H.R. Harmer will offer selections from several important name collections and a broad assortment of United States and worldwide stamps and postal history during three sales to be held Dec. 14-15.

In an announcement on the New York City firm’s website, H.R. Harmer advises bidders that the sales will be held only online.

“This decision allows us to showcase more material per sale, provide a greater number of high-resolution images, and affords us cost savings that will go towards keeping our buyer’s premium as low as possible and our commissions competitive,” H.R. Harmer said.

The two-day series showcases a selection of U.S. stamps from the Donald D. Nelson collection, the Larry C. Parks collection of U.S. postal stationery, the Andrew A. Mazzara collection of Italy and colonies, and further selections from the Bedford collection.

Part 6 of the Erivan collection, originally scheduled for this auction series, will be offered during a sale in mid-January 2022, H.R. Harmer said.

Collectors seeking graded stamps will find a number to choose from in the selection of U.S. stamps up for bids Dec. 14.

A choice example is an unused 1916 $1 violet black Benjamin Franklin on unwatermarked paper (Scott 478). H.R. Harmer includes a picture of the back of the stamp (not shown here), which shows noticeable traces of hinging.

H.R. Harmer describes the stamp as an “exceptionally well centered single with bold color.” Evidence of the stamp’s appealing centering can be seen on the accompanying 2021 Philatelic Foundation expertizing certificate that assigned the grade of extremely fine-superb-95.

H.R. Harmer is offering this attractive 1916 $1 Franklin with a starting bid of $450.

In the grade of very fine-80, an unused 1916 $1 violet black Benjamin Franklin is valued at $600 in the Scott Specialized Catalogue of United States Stamps and Covers. The Scott Stamp Values U.S. Specialized by Grade values an unused extremely fine-superb-95 example at $1,075.

One of the scarcer items from the Parks U.S. postal stationery collection is a used 1902 1¢ black William McKinley postal card showing the full-face portrait of the president (Scott UX17).

The card bears the preprinted address of Messrs. Booth, Dailey & Ivins in New York City. Two strikes of a New York, N.Y., Station B machine cancel show the card was mailed locally on Sept. 29, 1902.

On the back of the card is a preprinted form that was filled out Sept. 27 by the captain of a garbage tugboat. As such, collectors sometimes refer to preprinted examples of Scott UX17 bearing this form as “garbage cards.”

Against a Scott U.S. Specialized catalog value of $3,750, H.R. Harmer lists this used preprinted full-face 1902 1¢ black McKinley postal card with an opening bid of $1,500.

Separate listings for each of the three auctions are posted on the H.R. Harmer website, and online bidding options are available.

Additional information is also available from H.R. Harmer, 45 Rockefeller Plaza, Suite 2607, New York, NY 10111.

Connect with Linn’s Stamp News: 

    Sign up for our newsletter
    Like us on Facebook
    Follow us on Twitter