Today and tomorrow, Cherrystone Auctions will host a 1,587-lot sale of U.S. and worldwide stamps and covers at its New York City headquarters. Bids will also be accepted online via CherrystoneLive.
According to auctioneers, the sale will begin with a “nice” U.S. selection that includes back-of-the-book stamps. Western European countries include Austria, Belgium, France and its colonies, Germany and its colonies, Italy, Liechtenstein, Spain and Scandinavia. Great Britain and countries of the British Commonwealth, including Canada are also “well represented” with a selection of lots.
Among the highlights of the Canadian section is Lot 692, a used 1859 10-cent black brown stamp (Scott #17). Described as “well centred with intact perforations on all sides,” a “fairly light postmark” and “intense colour, ” this “nearly Very Fine example” is accompanied by 1999 and 2008 Vincent Graves Greene Philatelic Research Foundation expertization certificates. It has a starting bid of $2,400 USD (about $3,255 Cdn).
CANADIAN FLIGHT & ZEPPELIN COVERS
The sale also features a number of Canadian flight covers as well as selections of Zeppelin dispatches from around the world.
The top Canadian flight cover highlight is Lot 697, which was sent on a flight around the world with U.S. aviator Jimmie Mattern in 1933. It was sent from Edmonton, Alta. to the New York sector with mixed franking, including a 1931 one-cent King George V stamp (SC #163); a 1928 five-cent airmail stamp (SC #C1); and a one-cent U.S. stamp. Described by auctioneers as “very rare,” the cover is signed “Jimmie Mattern”.
On June 3, 1933, Mattern—with permission to fly over Europe and Russia—attempted to circle the globe. He landed in Jomfruland, Norway about 48 hours later before flying to Moscow and then Khabarovsk in southeastern Russia. On June 14, he took off for Nome, Alaska, but after crashing in Siberia, he was rescued by pilot Sigizmund Aleksandrovich Levanevsky.
Mattern finally returned to Floyd Bennett Field to complete his flight around the world on July 30, 1933.
This lot has a starting bid of $1,000 USD (about $1,355 Cdn.).
The sole Canadian Zeppelin cover highlight is Lot 697, which was sent from Montreal, Que. to New York before arriving in Frankfurt, Germany in 1936 aboard a Hindenburg flight. The cover paid the appropriate 60-cent cachet and is franked by a 1930 50-cent stamp commemorating the UNESCO World Heritage Site at Grand-Pré, N.S. (SC #176) as well as a 1935 10-cent Royal Canadian Mounted Police stamp (SC #223). The cover also includes a “Mit Luftschiff Hindenburg Befordert” handstamp on the back. In Very Fine condition, this lot has a starting bid of $475 USD (about $645 Cdn.).
According to auctioneers, other “noteworthy” sections include South America and Asia. The sale will conclude with more than 100 large lots and collections, which range from single country collections to multi-carton worldwide groups of stamps and covers.