Mail’s decline keenly felt at Christmastime

I come from a large family with my siblings living across Ontario and Alberta. Each year, my “out-west” sister-in-law faithfully sends a Christmas card to my wife and I, accompanied with a photo and a one-page, one-sided letter featuring that year’s “family highlights.” Not this year, however. Instead, I received by email a really cool Christmas card video. The video starts in a nice, rustic living room decked out in Christmas decorations with a jolly, live Santa Claus poking the fire, before he takes a seat in his comfy chair and reaches for a newspaper, called the Walsh Family Herald. Continue reading →

Edward VII under the hammer at next Brigham sale

Lot 27 features the Edward VII accepted designs in large record die proofs, in black on thin glazed card approximately 65 by 75 mm (20 cent is slightly smaller), all from the hardened state with American Bank Note Co. Ottawa imprint and appropriate die number. This is one of three known complete sets, with the auction firm noting ‘this being the largest size.’ Lot 27 has an estimated value of $20,000.

Another two-part catalogue of the Brigham Collection of Canada will feature the Edward VII (1903-11) and Queen Elizabeth II (1953-95) collections. “Probably the greatest Edward VII collection ever assembled, it is replete with unique items such as the 1901 Composite Essay Presentation Panel which debunks the long-held belief that the post office had no intention of issuing new stamps until the contract ran out with the printer in 1902,” says Charles Verge, chief executive officer of Brigham Auctions, Ltd. The seventh sale of what is considered one of the finest collections ever assembled, Ron Brigham’s philatelic material has garnered numerous national and international awards and recognitions. The sale will be held Saturday, Jan. 16 at the Brampton Golf Club in Brampton, Ont. The 396-lot auction kicks off at 1 p.m. Continue reading →

Soldier’s war stories evolves around stamps

It was while serving in the Israel Defense Forces that Isidore ‘Issie’ Baum began his 60-plus years of philatelic adventures.

By Jesse Robitaille Isidore “Issie” Baum has lived in Montreal for many of his 73 years, but his influence as a stamp dealer, community leader and family patriarch stretches across time and space. When Baum was 20-years-old, he moved to Israel, where he joined a kibbutz before eventually meeting his future wife, Zila, and fighting in the Six-Day War. It was 1967, and he was serving in the Israel Defense Forces as an infantry soldier and radio specialist. Continue reading →

Your feedback will help forge a better CSN

By the time you are reading this column, we will have released a comprehensive readership survey to more than 1,500 readers who are on our email list. I am hoping you are one of them. If not, I would urge you to email or call me (my direct line is 905-646-4820) for a copy of the survey. The opinion of every collector on the future direction of Canadian Stamp News matters to me and my entire team. It’s been a while since CSN has reached out to our readers with an in-depth survey, seeking your input on everything from how much time you spend, on average, reading CSN, which columnists you regularly read to what you would like to read more of, or, even less of. Continue reading →

Canada Post faces changes with its new political masters

I love politics, and I love stamps, so the recent change of government naturally got me thinking about the future of Canada Post. The thought process isn’t really much of a leap, most Canadians still think of Canada Post as a government department rather than as a semi-autonomous Crown corporation. Prior to the days when it was run by a “president and CEO,” the head of postal service was the Postmaster General, consisting of an elected member of parliament appointed by the prime minister. Continue reading →

Cantor collection sale ‘far above expectations’

Lot 350 featured an 1877 13-cent pre-UPU registered letter-rate cover to England. It graced the collections of multiple illustrious collectors and was one of the key items from the Cantor collection and is deemed as one of the most important Small Queen covers to England. It sold for $29,900.

r $600,000 in sales was the final tally for the Nov. 24, 2015 auction sale of the Daniel Cantor Small Queen Collection held by Sparks Auctions of Ottawa, Ont. The first, one day single owner sale held by Sparks, saw nearly 300 bids received prior to the auction and over 1,333 internet bids on the day of the sale, with a busy floor of collectors, agents and phone bidders. Bids were received from around the world, but most were from Canada, the United Kingdom, Great Britain and the Pacific Region. “Virtually every important item sold for far above expectations,” says Ian Kimmerly, president of Sparks Auctions. “We had set relatively aggressive estimates... but 100 per cent of the lots sold, with about 16 per cent going over the top estimate for the hammer price.” Continue reading →

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