Sparks Auctions is set to showcase more than 500 lots of worldwide postal history in its latest Postal History of the World sale, featuring material from the 16th through the 20th centuries and spanning Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas.
In its catalogue, the firm notes it is “pleased to present” a carefully curated offering that represents “an impressive breadth of global material,” with a mix of standout single items and substantial collections.
The sale will be held Tuesday, Dec. 16, beginning at 10 a.m. EST.
Sparks says collectors will find notable offerings from Canada, China, India, the Ionian Islands, Russia, South West Africa and a wide selection of European countries, including their post offices abroad. Collection lots include strong holdings from the German states, solid Great Britain postal history and a varied range of thematic material appealing to specialists. Alongside this broad scope, the Ottawa firm has curated four special sections highlighting distinct areas of postal and social history: mail of the Holy Roman Empire, United States air races and early aviation, First World War airship postal history and signed cards from the 1970 FIFA World Cup.
Material from the Holy Roman Empire includes manuscript letters and administrative documents dating from the late 1500s through the early 1700s. These pieces illustrate the administrative, ecclesiastical and noble correspondence networks of Central Europe, with examples from Silesian municipal offices, princely bishoprics, noble houses and the imperial chancery under Leopold I. Many retain their original wax seals and handwritten chancery scripts.
The First World War airship material presents a broad selection of Zeppelin-related postal history, including feldpost items tied to specific German and Austro-Hungarian airships, scarce unit cachets, officer-signed mail and home-front relics such as anti-Zeppelin propaganda and wire fragments recovered from the downed Cuffley airship. The grouping offers both visual impact and strong narrative appeal for collectors of early aviation and wartime postal systems.
Early aviation enthusiasts will also find a notable offering of United States air-race covers from the late 1920s and early 1930s, often referred to as the golden age of air racing. Individually offered signed covers link directly to well-known aviators including James Doolittle, Ben O. Howard, Florence “Pancho” Barnes, Phoebe Omlie, Ernst Udet and Michel Doret.
The fourth specialty section features a set of 11 signed Sportimex souvenir cards issued during the 1970 FIFA World Cup in Mexico. Widely regarded as one of the greatest tournaments ever played, and the first broadcast in colour, the 1970 finals brought together Europe’s strongest sides and South America’s best-known players, culminating in Brazil’s championship led by Pelé and Jairzinho. The June 1970 cancellations on these cards provide a philatelic link to a landmark global sporting moment.
Among the highlights of the auction, says Sparks, is Lot 177, a 1925 registered glider-mail cover flown during the Segelflüge am Büchelberg event near Pforzheim. The cover bears a black-and-red Mühlhausen registration label and a boxed red “Mit Segelflugpost befördert Hausen a.d. Würm” handstamp, along with a 10-pfennig eagle definitive and a 10-pfennig airmail stamp tied by triple-circle “Segelflüge am Büchelberg / Mühlhausen (Amt Pforzheim)” cancellations dated April 20, 1925. Three additional five-mark airmail stamps with 10-pfennig “Segelflüge Pforzheim” overprints – including a pair with inverted overprints – are cancelled by blue “Flugpost-Club Pforzheim / Fluggebühr bezahlt” strikes. A Pforzheim receiver dated April 24 appears on the reverse. Sparks describes the item as a desirable specialized glider-mail franking.
Full catalogue details for the Dec. 16 Postal History Sale 2 are available on the Sparks Auctions website.