Our 1250th auction milestone
Once a year on a significant auction number we try and put our best foot forward with a more substantial/valuable sale.
Our 1,250th auction fell on leap year Saturday February 29th
exceptional Canada stamps
and People’s Republic of China stamps,
plus historic highlights from the Gerald Wellburn collection.
There is no buyer’s premium.
Pauline Johnson
Lot 110 is a 1902 christmas letter from the legendary poet Pauline Johnson.
Brian Grant Duff: “There’s not much Pauline Johnson stuff available. I understand her sister burned all her correspondence when she died, so stuff is scarce. This letter is previously unknown and unpublished, it’s been in the family (it was sent to) for years.”
Penny Black says thanks for making our 1250th auction a success
Hastings Mill, far left, in a bird’s-eye-view map originally published in The Vancouver World in 1898. IAN LINDSAY / PNG
John Mackie has written a Vancouver Sun article about the 1865 ledger from the Hasting Sawmill and Captain Edward Stamp in the earliest days of Vancouver.
Lot 106 British Columbia and Vancouver’s Island Mint 1860 Gutter Block of eight of the first issued stamp of the twin colonies
John Mackie Vancouver Sun article Rare colonial B.C. stamps come home for auction
The 1860 stamps were made in London read “British Columbia and Vancouver’s Island”
City TV ask Brian Grant Duff about the 1865 Hasting Mill ledger – an insight into the earliest Vancouver and the beginnings of the lumber industry. It’s from the collection of fabled B.C. collector Gerald Wellburn
Short clip 1 min 15 secs or so >>
22 December 1902 E. Pauline Johnson 2 page Christmas letter, written on Clarendon Hotel Winnipeg stationery
Mohawk poet Pauline Johnson (Tekahionwake) signed letter from 1902 “I have not even written to thank you for all your kindness..”
Hasting’s Mill 1865/1868 6-page Edward Stamp Accounting Ledger, ex gerald Wellburn
Edward Stamp’s accounting journal from 1865 to 1869, listing out all his expenses for his English investors establishing lumber mills on Vancouver Island and the first main lumber mill in the Vancouver area Lot 108
British Columbia and Vancouver’s Island Mint 1860 Gutter Block of eight of the first issued stamp of the twin colonies
Lot 106 in All Nations 1250th is British Columbia and Vancouver's Island Mint 1860 Gutter Block of eight of the first issued stamp of the twin colonies. From the Mayfair find. The Mayfair Find John Mackie writes about the young schoolboy who asked for stamps to be...
The world’s first three postage stamps in our 1250th auction
Bid on the world’s first three postage stamps in our 1250th auction
Sir Rowland Hill 20 Apr 1867 signed Letter
Sir Rowland Hill 20 Apr 1867 signed Letter w/ 1979 certificate. Hill popularized penny postage for all and a penny black stamp to pay for it. Lot 148 in our 1250th milestone auction, Saturday 29th February 2020
North West Canada 1885 Silver Riel Rebellion Medal with Saskatchewan Bar
North West 1885 Canada North West Canada 1885 Silver Riel Rebellion Medal with Saskatchewan Bar, named to Forbes R. Johnston Major Barton's Lot 199 in our 1250th Auction Saturday 29th February 2020 Lot 199 realized $1,925
News: The Mayfair Find – Rare colonial B.C. stamps come home for auction
John Mackie writes in the Vancouver Sun. In the early 1860s, a young man wrote to postmasters around the world, enclosing money for sheets of stamps to be sent to his home in Mayfair in London. So they did. Now eight of the “Mayfair find” stamps have come home to B.C. in the Feb. 29 All Nations Stamp and Coin auction.
USSR 1989 pure Palladium Ballerina 25 Roubles .9925oz APW
CCCP pure Palladium 25 roubles with Ballerina .9925oz APW
Lot 195 estimated at $3,000 in our 1250th milestone auction, Saturday 29th February 2020
Canada #1a 1851 3d Beaver Orange Red Laid Paper
Canada #1a VF Used 1851 3d Beaver Orange Red Laid Paper $1600.
Lot 5 in our 1250th milestone auction, Saturday 29th February 2020
Canada’s first postage stamp was designed by Sir Sandford Fleming, a luminary Scottish Canadian engineer and inventor.
Customs Vancouver’s Island Seal 1858 Wells Fargo Cover to SFR
Customs Vancouver’s Island Seal 1858 Wells Fargo Cover to San Francisco, faults, from the Dale-Lichtenstein collection. One of only 13 such covers known. Three are to San Francisco. Lot 107 in our 1250th auction #wellsfargo #vancouversisland...
Alexander the Great style 17.3g Silver Tetradrachm struck under Cassander
The obverse shows Alexander the Great as the mythic Heracles dressed in a Lion's skin. There were full-sized african lions in Macedonia in the time of Alexander Zeus enthroned with Eagle Alexander the Great style 17.3g Silver Tetradrachm struck under Cassander 305 -...
Bank of Canada Fine+ 1935 Commemorative $25 Banknote
Canada issued a $25 bill in 1935 to commemorate the silver or 25th anniversary of King George V’s reign. About 1,840 of the 160,000 notes that were printed are still believed to be in private hands (or lost) Lot 198 Bank of Canada Fine+ 1935 George V $25 Banknote A004557, 1st time offered at auction
G.B. #1c VF red MC Used 1840 1d Black Inverted Watermark
The famous Penny Black – the word’s first normal postage stamp in 1840. This example with an inverted watermark. G.B. #1c VF red MC Used 1840 1d Black. Lot 150 in our 1250th milestone auction, Saturday 29th February 2020
Prince Edward signed 6 Jan 1797 Halifax Treasury Voucher ex Wellburn
6 Jan 1797 Halifax Treasury Voucher (Payment for laborers at Annapolis Royal )signed by ‘Edward’ – Prince Edward, duke of Kent, 4th son of George III and father of Queen Victoria Lot 122 in our 1250th milestone auction, Saturday 29th February 2020
Victoria Vancouver Island mixed franked Wells Fargo pasteup cover to the U.K.
Victoria, Vancouver Island mixed franked Wells Fargo pasteup cover to the U.K., with Post Office Victoria blue oval, and U.S. 24c postage, including 2c Black Jack. 2014 Greene Certificate accompaniesOne of many interesting and historic lots in our 29 February 1250th...
P.R. China #628 15 Sep 1962 Used Mei Lan-Fang $3
P.R. China #628 15 Sep 1962 Used Mei Lan-Fang $3 S/S US$6250.Lot 128 in our 1250th milestone auction, Saturday 29th February 2020
Canada #214GP XF 1935 5c Edward Vertical Wide Gutter Proof Pair
Canada #214GP XF 1935 5c with portrait of Edward Prince of Wales , Vertical Wide Gutter Proof Pair Lot 94 in our 1250th milestone auction, Saturday 29th February 2020
Canada #3Pi F/VF 1851 12d Black Specimen Proof
Canada #3Pi F/VF 1851 12d Black Specimen Proof, trifle corner crease, estimate $750Lot 7 in our 1250th milestone auction, Saturday 29th February 2020
Queen Elizabeth II & Prince Philip signed 1968 family card
Queen Elizabeth II & Prince Philip signed 1968 family card, foxed The last of the 'consignment from Buckingham Palace'Lot 1 in our 1250th milestone auction
P.R. China #1586 Never Hinged 1980 8f Monkey
P.R. China #1586 Never Hinged 1980 8f Monkey US$2150.Lot 138 in our 1250th milestone auction, Saturday 29th February 2020 note black offset marks
News: 1865 ledger from Hastings Mill, John Mackie article in Vancouver Sun
Most people think Vancouver started in Gastown. But the early city actually sprang up a few blocks east, at the foot of Dunlevy Avenue. That was where Capt. Edward Stamp decided to build a lumber mill in 1865. Incredibly, Stamp’s accounting ledger for the mill still...
Newfoundland #OX2i 1905 Watermarked LINE(N)
Lot 120 Newfoundland #OX2i Very Fine Used 1905 Watermarked LINE(N). One of many scarce stamps in our 1250th auction Saturday 29 February
