A major error, believed to be unique, is expected to cross the block at David Feldman’s Switzerland galleries next week for between £5,000 (about $8,500 Cdn.) and £10,000 (about $17,000 Cdn.).
Offered as Lot 30548 of the Dec. 3-7 sale, the top-right piece of a block of four 1982 30-cent Christmas stamps (Scott #973) is partly missing two colours. Magenta and yellow were omitted after the turquoise printing, according to the auction house, which adds it is “faintly evident in the portion of the stamp that was covered by the fold-over.”
“The remainder of the stamp as well as the other stamps in the block have the normal printed colours.”
The 2018 Specialized Catalogue of Canadian Stamps lists a variety (SC #973a) with all colours except black omitted; however, the error offered by Feldman is “quite different as turquoise is present where other colours are not.”
This example, which is “never hinged and very fine,” according to the auction catalogue, has been in the possession of the same Canada specialist since 1983.
The entire eight-catalogue sale features general as well as specialized collections from around the world, including Great Britain and its colonies, France and its colonies, Indian States, Egypt, Persia and Switzerland, among others.