Pages 86-87 iii

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11 Canada, 1868, on laid paper (on wove paper same stamp worth only $2) ; K. Bileski, Winnipeg, Canada.
12 New Zealand, 1855; Maurice Burrus, Strasbourg, France.
13 Newfoundland, 1919; Arcticus.
14 Mauritius, 1848, with "pence" misspelled "penoe," earliest impression; Burrus.
15 Baden, 1851, color error, should be rose instead of blue-green; Champion.
16 Transvaal, 1869, dark-green tete-beche pair; British Museum.
17 Great Britain, 1902; Robert J. Gill, Baltimore.
18 France, 1849, vermilion block, with tete-beche pair; Champion.

Pages 86-87 ii

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1 - Mauritius (British island east of Madagascar), 1848, earliest impression; Pacificus.
2 - Sweden, 1855, rarest stamp of Europe, error, should be bluegreen instead of yellow; Dr. Hans Lundberg, Toronto, Canada.
3 - Honduras, 1925, world's rarest airmail; Oscar Lichtenstein, Rumson, N.J.
4 - Great Britain, 1864, plate 77; British Museum.
5 - Mauritius, 1847; Queen Elizabeth.
6 - St. Louis, Mo., 1845, greenish paper, Postmaster Provisional (a stamp issued by a local U.S. postmaster before government -issued stamps); Raymond H. Weill Co., New Orleans.
7 - Switzerland, 1850, with complete frame around central cross not on later printings; Dr . Hans Leeman, Geneva.
8 - Moldavia, 1858; Philip Ward Jr., Philadelphia.
9 - Western Australia, 1854, Inverted Swan; Ward.
10 - Naples, 1860; Theodore Champion, Paris.

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Mauritius block of four

Scott values single examples of the 1848 1 penny orange, earliest impression, as $42,500 / $15,750 for mint / used. This block of four was sold by Siegel Auction Galleries in 1996 for $250,000. The online catalogue description is as follows,

MAURITIUS, 1848, 1p Orange Vermilion on Yellowish Paper, Earliest Impression (3; SG 3). Positions 7-8/10-11, unused block of four from lower left corner of the sheet, beautiful prooflike impression from the earliest state of the plate, richly inked and vivid fresh color, large to huge margins including part of sheet margins at left and bottom, horizontal crease between the stamps and vertical crease thru two righthand stamps, not affecting appearance, few faint toned spots on back
THE FAMOUS AND UNIQUE UNUSED BLOCK OF THE ONE-PENNY "POST PAID" EARLIEST IMPRESSION. THE MOST IMPORTANT UNUSED MULTIPLE OF MAURITIUS AND ONE OF THE OUTSTANDING IMPERFORATE BLOCKS OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE.

This remarkable survivor from the early period of the Mauritius post office can be traced as far back as Henry J. Duveen's ownership. It is not known from whom Duveen acquired the block, although he did purchase a significant portion of Sir William B. Avery's Mauritius collection. When the Duveen collection was dispersed through private sales by Charles J. Phillips in 1922-1926, the block figured prominently among the items purchased by Arthur Hind. After Hind's death, his Mauritius was offered as the fourth part of the British Empire series conducted by H. R. Harmer of London (June 12, 1934), and the "Post Paid" block sold for the U.S. dollar equivalent of $23,688, a staggering price that eclipsed the combined figure paid for the 1p and 2p "Post Office" stamps and came close to matching the amount realized by the 1p and 2p "Post Office" combination cover. The buyer was Alfred H. Caspary, presumably in competition with Maurice Burrus and Alfred F. Lichtenstein. Although Caspary's Mauritius collection paled in comparison to the holdings of his contemporaries, Burrus and Lichtenstein - he lacked even a single example of the "Post Office" stamps - the two titans of British Empire philately must have coveted their friend's "Post Paid" block. In 1958, after Caspary's death, his Mauritius was sold by H. R. Harmer, and the "Post Paid" block was featured in color in the sale catalogue, the only item in all of the Caspary sales to receive such chromatic distinction. It realized $18,500 and soon became part of the Josiah K. Lilly collection. When our firm sold the Lilly collection after his death, the "Post Paid" block realized $64,000 (March 16, 1967).

Thanks to Siegel Auction Galleries for the image and quote.
[accessed 19th October 2016]

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Sweden 1885 colour error

This stamp, valued by LIFE at $40,000 in 1954, sold for $2,300,000 in 2010 and changed hands again in 2013 for an undisclosed amount. Scott [2007] sets the value at $3M.The story is told by Wikipedia,

In 1855, Sweden issued its first postage stamps, in a set of five values depicting the Swedish coat of arms, with denominations ranging from three to 24 Swedish skillings. The three-skilling stamp was normally printed in a blue-green color, with the eight-skilling stamp being printed in yellowish orange. It is not known exactly what went wrong, but the most likely explanation is that a stereotype of the eight-skilling printing plate (which consisted of 100 stereotypes assembled into a 10 × 10 array) was damaged or broken, and it was mistakenly replaced with a three-skilling. The number of stamps printed in the wrong color is unknown, but so far only one example has been found.
Somehow, this error went entirely unnoticed at the time, and by 1873 the Swedish currency was changed. The skilling stamps were replaced by new stamps denominated in "öre". In 1886, a young collector named Georg Wilhelm Backman was going through covers in his grandmother's attic at the farm Väster Munga Gård north of Västerås, and came across one with a three-skilling stamp, for which the Stockholm stamp dealer Heinrich Lichtenstein was offering seven kronor apiece. After it had changed hands several times, Sigmund Friedl sold it to Philipp von Ferrary in 1894, who had at that time the largest known stamp collection in the world, and paid the breathtaking sum of 4,000 Austro-Hungarian gulden. As time passed, and no other "yellows" surfaced despite vigorous searching, it became clear that the stamp was not only rare, but quite possibly the only surviving example.
When Ferrary's collection was auctioned in the 1920s, Swedish Baron Eric Leijonhufvud bought the yellow stamp, and then Claes A. Tamm bought it in 1926 for £1,500 (pound sterling) in order to complete his collection of Swedish stamps. In 1928, the stamp was sold to the lawyer Johan Ramberg for £2,000, and he kept it for nine years. In 1937, King Carol II of Romania purchased it from London auction house H. R. Harmer for £5,000, and in 1950 it went to Rene Berlingen for an unknown amount of money. In the 1970s, the Swedish Postal Museum caused controversy by declaring the stamp to be a forgery, but after examinations by two different commissions, it was agreed that this was a genuine stamp.
In 1984, the yellow stamp made headlines when it was sold by David Feldman for 977,500 Swiss francs. It was resold in 1990 for over $1,000,000. Then, in 1996 it sold again for 2,880,000 Swiss francs. Each successive sale was a world record price for a postage stamp.
On 22 May 2010, the yellow stamp was auctioned once again by David Feldman in Geneva, Switzerland. It sold "for at least the $2.3 million price [that] it set a record for in 1996". The buyer reportedly was an "international consortium" and the seller was a financial firm auctioning the stamp to pay the former owner's debt. The exact price and the identity of the buyer were not disclosed, however, and all bidders reportedly were sworn to secrecy. The buyer has subsequently been identified as Armand Rousso, "a colorful philatelic player ... known ... for a number of high-profile activities."
In May 2013 the stamp was acquired in a private sale by Count Gustaf Douglas, a Swedish nobleman and politician.

[accessed 19th October 2016]

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Compared to the first two, unique items, the remainder of the stamps in this section are (relatively)  merely rare and expensive.

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3. Honduras 1925 25c on 10c dark blue airmail
Sc-C12 SG236c See Linns for this stamp's hisory.

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4. GB 1d red 1864
Sc33 SG43 Penny Red Plate 77, Scott [2007] $150,000 / $130,000. Story here.

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5. Mauritius 1847
Sc2 SG2 the 2d Post Office, see Page 85.

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6. St. Louis Provisional 1845
Sc11X3 SG77 The 20c stamp is valued at $85,000, the 5c and 10c at $6,500. Scott [2007].

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7. Switzerland 1850
Sc6 SG9 The expensive versions of this stamp have a "full black frame around the cross".

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8. Moldovia 1858
Sc4 SG3

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9. Western Australia 1854 invert
Sc3 SG3h Inverted swan

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10. Naples 1860
Sc8 SG8 The expensive stamp is deep blue, the plate altered from Sc1 to change the denomination from ½ G(rana) to ½ T(ornesi). A later plate change was made to replace the coat of arms with the cross of Savoy.

Pages 86-87 i

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PICK OF THE GREATEST COLLECTIONS 

Here, in one spectacular display, are 53 of the rarest gems picked from the world's great stamp collections. LIFE's estimate of values is given, but because stamp economics is highly volatile the actual selling price might be higher or lower. Below, with the identification, are the names of owners or custodians (three owners who prefer anonymity are listed as " Atlanticus," "Pacificus" and " Arcticus"):

1 - Mauritius (British island east of Madagascar), 1848, earliest impression; Pacificus.
2 - Sweden, 1855, rarest stamp of Europe, error, should be bluegreen instead of yellow; Dr. Hans Lundberg, Toronto, Canada.
3 - Honduras, 1925, world's rarest airmail; Oscar Lichtenstein, Rumson, N.J.
4 - Great Britain, 1864, plate 77; British Museum.
5 - Mauritius, 1847; Queen Elizabeth.
6 - St. Louis, Mo., 1845, greenish paper, Postmaster Provisional (a stamp issued by a local U.S. postmaster before government -issued stamps); Raymond H. Weill Co., New Orleans.
7 - Switzerland, 1850, with complete frame around central cross not on later printings; Dr . Hans Leeman, Geneva.
8 - Moldavia, 1858; Philip Ward Jr., Philadelphia.
9 - Western Australia, 1854, Inverted Swan; Ward.
10 - Naples, 1860; Theodore Champion, Paris.
11 - Canada, 1868, on laid paper (on wove paper same stamp worth only $2) ; K. Bileski, Winnipeg, Canada.
12 - New Zealand, 1855; Maurice Burrus, Strasbourg, France.
13 - Newfoundland, 1919; Arcticus.
14 - Mauritius, 1848, with "pence" misspelled "penoe," earliest impression; Burrus.
15- Baden, 1851, color error, should be rose instead of blue-green; Champion.
16- Transvaal, 1869, dark-green tete-heche pair; Br itish Museum.
17- Great Britain, 1902; Robert J. Gill, Baltimore.
18- France, 1849, vermilion block, with tete-heche pair; Champion.
19- Hawaii, 1851, unused, Missionary (so called because it was commonly used by missionaries); Burrus.
20- Uruguay, 1858, tete-heche pair; Atlanticus.
21 - Zurich, 1843; Leeman.
22- Geneva, 1843, strip of three doublestamps; Leeman.
23- Uruguay, 1858, tete-heche pair; Atlanticus.
24-Bavaria, 1849, tete-heche pair in block of 12; Atlanticus.
25- British Guiana, 1852, block of four; Stolow, New York.
26- Egypt, 1926, block of four from sheet of 25 (price quotEll: l is for all 25); ex-King Farouk.
27- New South Wales, 1850; British Museum.
28- Moldavia, 1858, tete-heche pair ; estate of ex-King Carol of Rumania.
29- Natal, 1902; Champion.
30-Uniontown, Ala., 1861, two cents, Confederate Postmaster Provisional ; H.R. Harmer Inc., New York.
31 - Austria, 1856, 6-kreuzer, newspaper stamp; Champion.
32- Cape of Good Hope, 1861, four-pence blue, with one-penny error; Atlanticus.
33-Reunion, 1852; Champion.
34-Portuguese Guinea, 1881, overprinted Cape Verde stamps with one, through Portuguese post-office error, printed "Mozambique"; Champion.
35- Moldavia, 1858, unused; Champion.
36- Honduras, 1925, red air-mail overprint; Lichtenstein.
37- Basel, 1845, first stamp printed in multicolor; Leeman.
38- France, 1869, five francs, value omitted by error; Champion.
39-British Columbia, 1865; Atlanticus.
40- Saxony, 1851, error, should be gray instead of blue; Champion.
41 - Canada, 1851; Atlanticus.
42- British Guiana, 1856, printed on sugar wrapping paper; J. & H. Stolow.
43- Brazil, 1843, 30 reis pair together with 60 reis; estate of Y. Souren, New York.
44-Newfoundland, 1927, De Pinedo ; Mrs. Caroline Cromwell, New York.
45-:-Mauritius, 1847, unused; Champion.
46- Gold Coast, 1883, one penny on four pence; British Museum.
47-Spain, 1851, error, should be red instead of blue; British Museum.
48- Millbury, Mass., 1846, Postmaster Provisional; Weill Co.
49-Tuscany, 1860; Champion. 50-France,
1850, tete-heche pair; Champion.
51-Newfoundland, 1860, orange-vermilion; British Museum.
52-British Guiana, 1856, four cents, magenta, unused; Stolow.
53-Ceylon, 1859; British Museum.

Front cover iii

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8. Victoria, Australia, 1901;
9. South Australia, 1883;
10. Norway, 1925;
11. Liechtenstein, 1927;
12. Belgium, 1941;
13. Queensland, Australia, 1903;
14. Libia, 1930;

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8. Victoria, Australia, 1901
Sc203 SG392 6d emerald $18 / $2

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9. South Australia, 1883
Sc76a SG 1889 red-brown in Scott $1 / $2

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10. Norway, 1925
Sc106 SG $8 / $16

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11. Liechtenstein, 1927
Sc-B3 SG $6 / $5

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12. Belgium, 1941
Sc-B291 SG 40c / 40c

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13. Queensland, Australia, 1903
Sc125a SG There are two versions, the difference being the size of the "Queensland" inscription, either 18mm or 17½mm. Both are priced at $30 / $7.

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14. Libia, 1930
Sc-B25 SG78 $2 / $11

Page 85 - iii- Mauritius "Post Office" stamps on cover

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This was sold on 1st December 2016 for €2M ($2.1M).
Described in LIFE as, "Stamps on $75,000 envelope … issued in 1847 by Postmaster of British island of Mauritius."

Printing plate

Image from Feldman

Looking first at the individual stamps, there were two values, the one penny red-brown and the two pence blue. There was a single printing plate with just one of each value and  Wikipedia suggests that 500 copies of each stamp were printed.

 Feldman states that there are only six known examples of the stamps on cover:

1. "Three of the covers are single frankings of the 1d value; one is in the British Library (Tapling Collection), 
2. another in the Royal Collection (since 1904). 
3. the third, known as the “Ball Envelope,” is ex Kanai, and was sold by [Feldman] in the last decade. 
4. A single franking 2d cover to Bordeaux is in the German Postal Museum, [The French dealer Théophile Lemaire bought the Bordeaux letter bearing a single two pence  stamp for £1,200, and sold it to the German dealer Philipp Kosack for £1,400. Kosack then sold it to the Reichspostmuseum in Berlin, Helen Morgan blog] while 
5. the famous 1d + 2d franking, also to Bordeaux, was the highlight of the Kanai collection, and achieved the highest price ever obtained by a philatelic object, CHF 6’250’000, still the record for any philatelic cover. 
6. Finally the Bombay cover" which Feldman is selling and prompted their post. This is the cover featured in the LIFE article.

Images for four of the six covers have been found so far.

1. Tapling Collection	2. the Royal Collection
image from the British Library	image from the Smithsonian National Postal Museum
img	img
3. the Ball Envelope	4. single 2d Bordeaux
image from	image from
5. 1d + 2d Bordeaux	6. the Bombay cover
image from Wikipedia	image from Feldman

Feldman provides a history of the Bombay cover,

• "Its provenance includes its discovery in 1897 in an Indian bazaar, soon passing through the hands of dealer W.H. Peckitt to Vernon Roberts, later owned (1906) by Worthington, who sold it to Alfred F. Lichtenstein in 1917. It was considered one of the most important items of his collection. 
• When this cover was sold in 1968 as Lot 1 of the Dale-Lichtenstein collection, it brought an astounding $380,000 and ended up, a year later, in the hands of Raymond Weill. 
•  Offered again at auction in 1989 as part of the Weill Brothers stock, it was bought in for CHF 2’600’000 
• and subsequently sold to Dr. Chan Chin Cheung, who held it until its sale in 1996 to Guido Craveri, who exhibited it in New York at Anphilex ’96 as one of the Aristocrats of Philately.
• Subsequently sold to an unidentified private collector, and 
• soon to be offered by Private Treaty though our company, the “Bombay” cover remains the “ne plus ultra” of condition for this very rare classic issue, and offers as well a great deal of pride (and fame, if desired) for its next owner !"

The cover sold at Feldman for €2M ($2.1M), against an estimate of €3-5M.
The copper plate was also sold for €1.1M, estimate €2-3M.

Revaluation

I'll keep the score here.

Page 85 - ii - British Guiana 1c magenta

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To recap, LIFE describes the two entries on Page 85 as,

• The face and the back of a $100,000 stamp, and
• Stamps on $75,000 envelope … issued in 1847 by Postmaster of British island of Mauritius.

This page will deal with the first of those, the British Guiana 1c magenta. The image, right, is from the Wikipedia page on the stamp, as are most of the following details.

LIFE valued it at $100,000 in 1954, therefore making up 10% of the $1M Stamp Album.

It was last sold on 17th June 2014 for $9,480,000.

To quote Wikipedia,

"Only one copy of the 1c stamp is known to exist. It is in used condition and has been cut in an octagonal shape. A signature, in accordance with Dalton's policy, can be seen on the left hand side, along with a heavy postmark.

It was discovered in 1873 by a 12-year-old Scottish schoolboy, Louis Vernon Vaughan, in the Guyanese county of Demerara (whose postmark the stamp bears), amongst his uncle's letters. There was no record of it in his stamp catalogue, so he sold it some weeks later for six shillings to a local collector, N.R. McKinnon.

In 1878 McKinnon's collection was sold to a Liverpool stamp dealer, Thomas Ridpath, for £120.

Shortly afterwards, the same year, Thomas Ridpath sold the 1c to Philipp von Ferrary for about £150.
His massive stamp collection was willed to a Berlin museum but following Ferrary's death in 1917 the entire collection was taken by France as war reparations following the end of World War I.

Arthur Hind bought it during a series of fourteen auctions in 1922 for over $36,000 (reportedly outbidding three kings, including George V); on 6 April 1922, sale 3, lot 295, the stamp sold for 300,000 franc + 17½% tax (@48 frs to £1 = £7,343).

On 30 October 1935 it was offered for sale at Harmer Rooke & Co auction 2704, lot 26, where a bid of £7,500 was received from Percival Loines Pemberton. However the lot was withdrawn and returned to Mrs Scala (formerly Mrs Hind). In 1940, she offered it for private sale through the philately department of Macy's department store in New York City. It was purchased for $40,000 by Fred "Poss" Small, an Australian-born engineer from Florida, who had wanted to own the stamp since he first heard about it as a boy. In acquiring it, Small completed a full set of stamps from British Guiana.

In 1970, Small auctioned his entire stamp collection (estimated to be worth $750,000), and the 1c stamp was acquired by a syndicate of Pennsylvanian investors, headed by Irwin Weinberg, who paid $280,000 for it and spent much of the decade exhibiting it in a worldwide tour.

John E. du Pont bought it for $935,000 in 1980, setting the world's record for a single stamp price again. Subsequently it was believed to have been locked in a bank vault while its owner was in prison. Dupont died while still incarcerated on 9 December 2010.

It was sold from the DuPont estate on 17 June 2014 at a Sotheby's New York auction, sale number N09154, for $9,480,000, including buyer's premium. It took only two minutes to sell to an anonymous bidder, and was the fourth time the stamp had broken the world's record for a single-stamp bid; this time, the sale broke the 1996 record of $2,300,000 for the Treskilling Yellow, an 1855 Swedish stamp. The purchaser has since identified himself as shoe designer and businessman Stuart Weitzman who collected stamps as a child."

[Wikipedia accessed 11th October 2016]