Canadian Stamp Auctions

30 May, 2006 - Matthew Bennett International

It was a surprise e-mail from one of our alert viewers in Ottawa that made us aware the Matthew Bennett auction of “The Malibu Collection of Canada & Provinces” had taken place last May. Our sincere thanks to that person.

How exciting was this sale? Nothing tells the story like a couple of examples:

Lot 76 Scott 63 Catalogue $3,400 Realized $12,100

Lot 99 Scott 91 Catalogue $375 Realized $3,575

This collection of Canadian stamps was outstanding. One of the great things about the Internet is that you can increase the size of the image of a stamp so it can be admired more fully. Two things happen when you do this. First, the bigger the image, the harder it is to tell if it is well centered, so buyer beware. Second, as you enlarge the stamp, marks such as re-entries, position dots and lines that were not so evident in the original become more visible. This is a real plus for the collector.

Besides the quality of this collection, the prices were outstanding. We counted 33 new record prices plus many others that were close to previous records. These 33 are the most new record prices we can recall in any sale since we started our website in 1999. This led us to wonder how many of the new record prices this year were realized for Canadian stamps in the U.S. as opposed to Canada. A majority in the U.S. has never happened before in our experience. Here’s the answer:

106 New Canadian Record Prices so far in 2006

At U.S. auctions: 65
At Canadian auctions: 40

Total: 105

In this sale, the currency conversion rate was $1US to $1.10 Cdn. Four years ago, the U.S. dollar was equal to $1.53. Cdn. If this sale had taken place then, the prices realized would have been 39% higher expressed in Canadian dollars. The mind boggles !

At the end of this review, we will note the details of all the new record prices. Not only were there a lot of them, but as we have noted earlier this year, the increase from many of the previous records is quite noticeable. To illustrate this, we will, for the first time, show not only the new record prices, but the previous ones as well. Hold onto your hats!

A most valuable used 12 penny black

Lot 4 Scott 3 Catalogue $55,000 Realized $57,750

This rare stamp had ample to large margins with a sharp proof like impression, amongst the finest used examples of this classic rarity. This is the highest price we have recorded for a used copy of the 12d black. In 2006, new record prices have now been paid for both the mint and used copies of this stamp. The above copy comes from the collections of Lees-Jones and Amundsen.

A rare “stitch watermark”

Lot 17 Scott 8 Estimate $22,000-$33,000 Realized $23,100

This block of four has the very rare “stitch watermark” vertically through the left pair. The bottom pair is NH. There is a tiny tear in the upper left stamp and a horizontal crease affecting the top pair, otherwise a VF and unique multiple. There are only two recorded examples of the vertical stitch watermark.

Large Queens

Black, perfectly centered	Thin paper variety
Lot 31 Scott 21 (nh) Catalogue $80 Realized $495	Lot 32 Scott 22b (nh) Catalogue $800 Realized $4,125

Small Queens

Jubilees

Deep Ultra Marine	Lake
Lot 73 Unitrade 60i Catalogue $975 Realized $5,500	Lot 74 Scott 61 Catalogue $2,150 Realized $2,400

Lot 75 Scott 62 Catalogue $3,250 Realized $4,400

Very fine copies of the Jubilee set are attracting outstanding prices at auction these days. One of the most remarkable in this sale was the $ 5500 paid for lot 73 above, a beautiful copy of Scott 60i, the “the deep ultramarine” colour variety of the 50¢. It is the only copy we have ever recorded. The regular “ultramarine” stamp has a catalogue value of $500, the “deep ultramarine” variety a catalogue value of $975, the best price we have recorded for a Scott 60 was $1,200 in 1999, and now a copy has sold for $5,500. Amazing!

Only two exist

Lot 94 Unitrade 90 viii Catalogue $5,000 Realized $4,125

According to Matthew Bennett, this is a great rarity, one of only two such pairs recorded. Is it perfect like so many of the other stamps in the sale? Hardly, it is lightly hinged and has a thin spot. But for a stamp this rare, this doesn’t really matter. Any copy is highly desirable whatever the condition.

In our records, we recorded a previous sale of this variety at a J.N.Sissons sale in Toronto on August 18, 1971. There, a pair (lot 258) sold for $360. It was described as “possibly unique”. We showed this earlier copy in our Commentary No. 78, noting that there was some question of whether it was genuine.

For more details please click on the highlights button.