An extensive British Commonwealth Collection was the top lot of Tennants Auctioneers’ Stamps, Postcards and Postal History Sale on 11th June, selling for £8,000 plus buyer’s premium. The intact collection was housed in 73 albums and had a particular strength in King George VI.
Good results were also seen for eight lots that made up a good Collector’s Estate, which had a particular focus on postmarks and postal history as well as control numbers and Post Office archival material. The first lot in the collection comprised stamps and postal history from Queen Victoria to early King George V, including two used Mulready envelopes and fourteen penny blacks (sold for £4,800). The Estate realised a total hammer price of £12,750.
Further highlights of the Stamp section of the sale included a strong Queen Victoria to King Edward VII Collection, which comprised approximately 300 mint and used stamps and sold for £4,000.
Elsewhere in the sale, an album of approximately 500 postcards relating to West Yorkshire, which was part of an extensive private collection that is being sold over the course of several sales, sold well at £2,000, doubling the top estimate. The album included many desirable photographic cards and depicted local events and scenes in Leeds and surrounding towns and villages such as Tadcaster, Sicklinghall and Bramley. An Inland Revenue Somerset House stationary envelope with a 1902 2 ½ d stamp sold well at £750; interestingly, the envelope was addressed to a gentleman care of the famous furniture company Waring and Gillows’ Paris office.
The sale achieved a total hammer price of £116,250, and an 89% sold rate.
