11th July 2011

Black Marks and Mr Gibbons

Full steam ahead with the describing of lots for the next auction for some of us at Grosvenor, whilst others begin to slip away for their summer hols.

One of the earliest to disappear for a couple of weeks is Chris Lawrence who, after writing all the May sale vendor cheques, will even now be soaking his sore wrist in the Indian Ocean. He will be back just as soon as the swelling goes down.

"Frankly, my dear, I feel rather undervalued"

We are happy to report that there will again be a wide range of specialist areas represented in the autumn auctions. My colleague, Charlie Napper, may shake his head in disappointment at the "nasty black marks" to be found on the G.B. stamps that Glyn Page and I are dealing with at present but collectors of Great Britain Overprinted issues should find September a notable month. One striking feature is the large number of multiples present, including no less than six full sheets of the Bahrain 1955-60 De La Rue 10r. on 10s. ! The longer one spends hovering with a magnifying glass over the Castle high values, the more difficult it is to refute the suggestion that this is indeed the most attractive of all the engraved Queen Elizabeth II designs.

 Mr Gibbons has been holding back British Commonwealth catalogue values for some time now and this creates striking opportunities for the G.B. specialist who can look past the "black marks".  The Great Britain 1858-79 1d. plate 215 catalogues £70 per stamp but plonk a "CYPRUS" overprint on top and this falls to a meagre £16. The re-engraved Seahorse 2s.6d. has a catalogue value of £80 but with "MOROCCO AGENCIES" and a French surcharge added this drops to a feeble £4.75. The overprinted versions of these, together with a number of similarly underappreciated stamps, will be appearing in full sheets in our September auction.

JG