Popular Success

The British Empire & Foreign Countries auction held at Grosvenor on February 26 was a popular mixture of all world material that attracted collectors and dealers alike, filling the Strand saleroom.

On a day when the highest prices were largely achieved by a good spread of collections of substance there were, however, a number of notable individual results.

Featured on the front cover of the sale catalogue, the Bermuda 1901 “ONE/FARTHING” on 1s. bluish grey with “F” in “FARTHING” inserted by hand [lot 213) is one of the very finest of the eight known examples and merited fully its £4,800 realisation. An appealing colour trial from the 1902 Dry Dock issue, printed from the rare small plate of six impressions (lot 214) rose to £1,140.

792

An intriguing group of Rhodesia rarities included a 1d. stationery card sent in 1903 cancelled by the very rare Sitanda squared circle datestamp (lot 813). Only three examples of this cancellation are known, none on cover, and the pre-sale estimate was left far behind by a £4,920 result. The vital importance of condition was again highlighted by the minor peripheral toning that restricted the price of the attractive Double Head 10d. Waterlow sample die proof (lot 792) to a nonetheless pleasing £3,600.

813

The New Zealand Beer Duty stamps are among the most handsome revenue stamps ever produced and this was reflected in strong bidding for the 1885 mint selection (lot 726) which rose to £1,980.

726

This sale opened Grosvenor’s Spring 2020 season and was the first to offer its acclaimed online bidding service free to clients to use without additional charge. This further encouragement to bidders worldwide contributed to a highly satisfactory total realisation of £375,216.

Full listings of the prices realised may be downloaded from the Grosvenor website www.grosvenorauctions.com. Contact Tom Margalski for further information.