Our 62nd sale was an online auction only, comprising of over 700 lots offering a wide range of material. Throughout the sale were lots from the estate of the late Ian Christie-Johnston, including ranges of Australian Kangaroos and King George V, and collections and single lots of British Commonwealth and foreign.
All Australian Colonies were represented. New South Wales included an interesting group of mail to U.S.A. with ‘PAID ALL’ markings, Tasmania had a wide range of postal history highlighted by a strip of four of the 1d Courier on cover, and Victoria included an exceptional mint example of the very scarce 10d grey Laureate.
Australian Commonwealth had a fine group of Kangaroos, beginning with the remainder of the 1d collection offered in our last sale that includes two blocks of the plate proof on manilla card. There was also a good range of high values, with two £2 Sperati forgeries. The George V issues began with two blocks of the 6d Engraved Kookaburra, and Sideface issues include some useful plates group of 1d Reds, including a fine accumulation of all panes in a stockbook. Similar groups of the 1½d, 2d, 3d and 4½d follow. Important individual lots included a 1½d Brown cracked electro in a rare mint pair, a complete sheet of 1½d Red Die I Electro 22, and a block of 73 punctured OS from the scarce 1½d Red Due II Plate 1a. As well, throughout the Kangaroo and George V sections was a final offering of cancelled-to-order stamps. The 1935 Silver Jubilee had an exceptional old-time study of the 2d value with many of the scarcer plate varieties.
Queen Elizabeth II issues included studies of the various portrait definitive series, the pair of 1953 Produce Food die proofs, and four of the 1959 Fauna watercolour artwork by Eileen Mayo which proved so popular in our Sale 59. Two rarities are the 1959 5d Blue QEII imperforate at left, and the 1965 5d Churchill with missing light grey. The Commonwealth lots were completed by a useful group of Postal Stationery Envelopes, and the BCOF issue in imprint blocks of four.
From the Rest of the World there were a number of collection lots, some fine George VI groups, and bulk lots of various Central American countries. Great Britain features some interesting postal history, and a very fine 1888 £1 Watermark Orbs. Mauritius has some very attractive ‘Primitives’ and Perkins Bacon issues, and there were good groups of Nauru, New Guinea and Papua.
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