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One of the reasons that stamp collecting started much later then other commodities and collectibles is that the first gummed stamp was not printed until 1845. When you think about it, at the time of the first stamp auction, the oldest stamp that could be collected was just 25 years old.
The most costly and desirable stamps are not necessarily the prettiest, just like the rarest and highest priced books for bibliophiles are not easy or enjoyable to read. Stamp collecting is based on scarcity and mistakes. A particular stamp might not be of historical significance but do to misalignment in the printing process it might fetch 10 times what an historical commemorative stamp would bring. Collectors are searching for the “freaks” and oddities. In some cases cancelled stamps are worth more then uncancelled examples.
It is universally agreed that the first commemorative stamp in America was produced and sold at the 100th anniversary of our Independence in 1876 at the Centennial Exhibition held in Philadelphia, PA. Actually, the commemorative was not a simple stamp. It was a stamped envelope.
But, what about the post-civil war period Abraham Lincoln stamp, certainly this predates 1876? Yes the Lincoln stamp was produced earlier. However, The black 15 cent stamp that made its appearance on June 17th 1866 with a likeness of Abraham Lincoln came onto the market as the result of an increase in postage for registered mail. It was not issued as a commemorative. Another 19th century commemorative stamp was the “Columbian” recognizing Christopher Columbus at the Columbian Exhibition in 1892. Unfortunately the stamp was not released until January 1893. Although late, it was a hot seller and is very collectible today.
The stamp trading capital of the world was New York City. Nassau Street was to stamp collecting what Wall St. was to securities exchange. There were many auctioneers located on Nassau Street along with all the peripheral services and dealers. Mauritz Hallgren, author of “All About Stamps” elaborates on the stamp market with its bids, asked prices and quotations. He talks about the “tipsters, dope sheets, market analysts, short sales and attempted corners.”
“The idea of cornering the market on postage stamps seems at a first glance about as impossible as cornering hot air in the halls of Congress” according to author Bellamy Partridge in his book “Going, Going, Gone!” Nonetheless, attempts have been made. As an example it happened with the 1922 one-cent green stamp. For seven years they were on sale at face value by the government Philatelic Agency. It was 1929 when the government had exhausted their stock that it became known that a handful of speculators had quietly bought up a large quantity. They cautiously inched the prices up and then, according to Partridge, “suddenly the owners put on the screws and jumped the price to one dollar and in some cases even more. At this price the investors unloaded, selling at three or four hundred dollars a sheet stamps that had cost them only four dollars at the government price.”
The stamp auctions were popular because the buyers had a say in the construction of the price. In general, all stamp auctions were cataloged – encouraging absentee and “mail” bids. Inspections were prior to the auction and the lots were sold by catalog number. Auctions were frequently held during the week and in the middle of the day with a start time of 2PM. Typically, descriptions were guaranteed to be accurate or the successful bidder could return the lot for a full refund if done in a timely manner. The auctioneer’s presentation was hardly a “chant” sometimes the bidders submitted their bids orally. The crowds were usually less then 100 people. The auctioneer did not handle the stamps. The profile of a mid-20th century stamp collector was a male over fifty years of age. The pace of the auction was brisk.
Perhaps one of the best references and examples of a stamp auction can be gleaned from the auction catalog of the Arthur Hind Collection. The major collection of Arthur Hind was sold at unreserved auction at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel on Park Ave. in New York City in 1933. Arthur Hind from Utica New York assembled “the most valuable and complete of all general collections in the world.” According to the Forward of the first auction catalog: “Mr. Hind collected the stamps of the world up to 1929 and neither the cost nor the unpopularity of a country, from a speculative standpoint, deterred him in his search for completeness.”
Mr. Hind commenced his collection about 1891 when residing at Clark Mills, near Utica. From 1903 he traveled extensively, having made three trips round the world, purchasing many stamps en route, notably the Eustice collection of Hawaii.
In France he bought one of the greatest collections of Mauritius; in Bradford, England, the W.M. Gray collection of Cape of Good Hope. Finally when C.J. Phillips dispersed the grand collection of Henry Duveen of Fifth Avenue, New York, Mr. Hind had first choice of every country that was broken up. Arthur Hind was specially fond of the stamps of the United States and Confederate States, and spared neither time nor money in his efforts to make this group matchless.”
The Hind collection was so large that the first auction was to take place in New York from November 20th through November 24th. Following this auction it was anticipated that there might be “five or six sales of from four to ten days, and a separate catalog will be produced for each sale.” This was an Estate Auction authorizing Charles J. Phillips (Stamp Auctioneers & Dealers) and William C. Kennett (Hind’s philatelic secretary) to sell all at unreserved public auction.
The first auction catalog boasted 1653 lots described on 103 pages with a separate book of photographs of key lots. The auctioneer was Walter S. Scott. According to the terms all lots had to be inspected in New York. There was a 7-day return privilege on any lot that was not described accurately provided the lots were returned within 7 days. All sales were to be paid for in guaranteed funds. There were several days of Exhibition.
In my personal collection I have a copy of the 1933 Hind auction catalog, prices realized and several newspaper articles about the auction. According to an article written by Philip Ward, Jr. on December 27, 1957 in MEKEEL’S WEEKLY STAMP NEWS (Parker & Mekeel conducted stamp auctions in New York starting on March 9, 1894) “Before his death, Mr. Hind placed his collection with the late Charles J. Phillips for sale privately. Every item was priced and listed separately and we note from our list that the total reach $601,760. It was for sale as a collection and would not be broken. The price asked was $535,000. As Phillips was unable to move it, it was returned to Hind."
Ward explains that he had the opportunity to purchase the entire collection on behalf of some serious collectors back in May of 1929. He made the trip to Utica and met with Hind’s philatelic secretary, William C. Kennett. Ward offered $450,000. This amount was refused. Kennett countered with a total price of $500,000. Further, Kennett stated that Ward “should be glad to sell it at “cost” because of the publicity from the sale.” It turns out that Ward was relieved that he did not purchase the collection in May of 1929; a time when the stock market was booming. By October the dark clouds of depression were starting to set in. According to Ward “When the auction sale was held after his death, four and a half years later, total realized was much lower, due to depression.”
Evidently, the appraisers had their work cut out for them. On page 7 of the original catalog there is a “Note”. The Note provides an explanation for how values were set on each lot in the catalog. The estimates were based on “the prices paid by Arthur Hind, less big reductions to allow for depreciation.”
A review of the sale prices proved Ward right. Even though the estimates were reduced, the actual sale prices were coming in below estimate. Lot 16 an 1845 5 cent black on buff Alexandria, VA stamp (one of four known) estimated at $10,000 sold for $4,000. Many stamps fell well below 50% of estimate.
The highlight of the auction was written up in the New York papers. “A little strip of blue tinted paper about two inches long inscribed James M. Buchanan 10 cents was sold after spirited bidding today for $10,500 (Est $12,000) in the Astor Gallery at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel.” This stamp was well known as the “10 cent Baltimore” and offered at Lot 26. (Note in 1958 the famous New York stamp auctioneer H.R. Harmer, Inc. sold this “10 cent Baltimore” for $14,000.)
Until I started researching this subject I did not realize that the Confederacy issued their own stamps as they did currency. Hind had a fantastic collection of Confederate stamps. The first lot in the Confederate States section of the catalog was Lot 1477 a 10 cent envelope from Albany Georgia dated Dec. 30, 1861, one of two known to exist and estimated at $250, it fetched $45. The top confederate lot was #1567, a 5 cent blue, used pair on cover from Pleasant Shade, VA estimated at $2,500. It was hammered down at a whopping $5,400.
Stamp auctions are as popular today as they were back in 1933. Some collectors are looking for commemoratives, airmails, covers or the stamps of a particular country or continent. Others are in hopes of finding the rarities and “freaks”. These finds are not impossible. To quote Partridge from “Gojng, Going, Gone!”, “One of the most famous finds in our country (America) was the twenty-four cent airmail stamp with the plane turned upside down. This was sold to a broker’s clerk who handled stamps on the side. He bought the entire sheet of 100 for which he paid the man at the window $24. He had no difficulty in selling the unbroken sheet to speculators who quickly sold it by telephone, sight unseen, to Col. E.H. Green, a famous collector and the son of Hetty, for $20,000. Not a bad deal , for the time came when the single stamps from that sheet sold as high as $4,100.” (1958)
Today: A search of “stamp auctions” on Google, October 17th, 2002, captured 6,140 listings. A search of the word “stamps” on ebay produced 21,531 listings. The American Philatelic Society that was established in 1886 now has a website. The London Stamp Exchange that was established 5 years later in 1891 also has a website.
As an auctioneer I am gaining respect for those little sticky pieces of ephemera that frequently cross the auction block. In Hind’s sight they can be very valuable.
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