KING EDWARD VII IN DEMAND 
The Aurelius Collection (Prices realised online now)

“A once in a lifetime opportunity” was how a prospective bidder described this auction held at the Grosvenor saleroom on 21^st May. 

This specialised Great Britain collection offered just over 360 lots of outstanding material from the reign of King Edward VII, the like of which had not been seen on the market for decades.  A strong group of collector and trade buyers assembled at Grosvenor for the 2pm start.  With eager anticipation the 30 or so room bidders along with the telephone bidders soon became embroiled in a battle to win their favourite lots.

The following realisations are quoted to the nearest £1. 

The very first lot of the sale, 2001, one of eleven “Paste Up” essays to be offered set the tone for the entire sale when it reached a £5,380 as the hammer dropped, against a pre sale estimate of £3,000.  The further lots in the section followed suit, all reaching similar levels.  The unique Unfinished Die Proof, as illustrated on the front cover of the catalogue, Lot 2029, estimated at the full SG catalogue value of £3,500 finally found a new home at an amazing £14,944. 

With the sale arranged broadly in face value order of the stamps the lots continued to sell well, each being keenly contested, bidding remaining consistent.  The rare opportunity to acquire colour trials for the 1½d, 2d, 4d and 7d values resulted in these generally fetching between £5,380 and £6,576 for each lot against a current SG catalogue value of £3,000 each. 

On reaching the section for the 1910 Unissued Tyrian Plum, the audience became more excited.  Lot 2120, the Tyrian Plum Die Proof soared to £21,520 against a pre sale estimate of £15,000.  The Tyrian Plum itself, Lot 2121, one of the few known on the market and estimated at £20,000 sold at £34,670.  Colour Trials for this fascinating issue followed, fetching up to £15,500 each depending on the quality.  The sale continued with bidding remaining spirited throughout, all lots selling very well.  Towards the final lots came the 10d value.  This included an example of the Imprimatur, Lot 2301.  Not recorded in the SG Specialised catalogue it was estimated at £8,000.  It sold for just over double the estimate at £16,737. 

It was certainly a day that those in attendance will not forget, indeed those participating in the sale will recall the experience as a memorable day as time moves on.  The sale catalogue will prove to be the definitive reference for collectors of the subject. 

Overall the auction was 95% sold and achieved an outstanding £680,000 against a pre sale estimate of £385,000. 

Grosvenor’s Managing Director, Richard Watkins stated that, “it is refreshing in this economic climate to see such an outstanding result.  It validates the claims that specialised collecting is alive and kicking.”

 The next sale at Grosvenor, June 17^th, will be Great Britain, a specialised sale offering a wide range of interesting and unusual material form all periods and reigns. 

The second and final part of the “Aurelius” collection of King Edward VII will be offered in the Autumn/Winter of 2009.

 SPRING IN THE AIR AT GROSVENOR MAY SALE 

May 7^th saw the 47^th auction sale at Grosvenor, Postage Stamps and Postal History of the British Empire.  Offering over 1300 los from throughout the Empire the sale commenced with a strong section of Falkland Islands and Antarctica. 

This specialised section of Falkland Islands included the wonderful collections formed by Margery Wharton and Judith Faulkner and comprised a wide range of fascinating lots.  It drew a serious audience to the saleroom with over 50 specialist collectors and additional trade buyers in attendance.  With the entire section a virtual sell out, highlights included Lot 34 at £1,495, the 1933 Falklands Centenary 5/- in a super lower marginal imprint pair, Lot 66, a collection of various stamp issues, photographs an ephemera from the Margery Wharton collection made £1,435 against an estimated £400.  Lot 147, South Georgia, the 1928 2½d Provisional in a lovely lower right corner marginal block of four realised £2,500.  Moving through to Antarctica, Lot 230, estimated at £300, offered a sheet of notepaper from the R.M.S “Olympic”, the sister ship of the ‘Titanic”.  Bearing a pair of King Edward VII Land pre-cancelled adhesives this unusual piece rose to almost £1,100 before the hammer finally fell.  The mixed groups and collections offered in this section also proved to be keenly sought after with Lot 283, an extensive group of explorer autographs seeing spirited bidding, finally closing at just over £1,800 against an estimate of £500.  This was closely followed by Lot 284, a themed display collection…  “Of Ice and Men” which soared to just over £2,500 against an estimated £400. 

The Miscellaneous and Mixed Lot section proved as popular as ever, the majority of lots finding new homes.  Lot 292 a general collection, Q.V. to Q.E.II estimated at £3,000 was much sought after, realising £7,500. 

This sale continued with general Empire, A to Z, notable sections being specialised Egypt and Morocco Agencies together with good representations from African countries and the West Indies, including Bermuda and Trinidad & Tobago.  Demand for these sections proved consistent with the Egypt collections formed by Alan Jeyes and Keith Pogson and the Morocco Agencies keenly contested in the room and on the telephone. 

Thematic collectors demonstrated enthusiasm with spirited bidding for Scouting items in all sections.  Notable realisations achieved through this activity included Lots 359 and 360.  These offered Australian Die Proofs from the 1948 and 1952 Jamboree issues each estimated at £250 and realised a very healthy £2,000 and £1,400 respectively.  The Scout thematic collectors may also have been responsible for the remarkable realisations for the Mafeking Seige Issues on offer.  The 1900 1d issue fine used on a local envelope SG17, Lot 1038, rising to £4,600 against an estimate of less than half this figure.  Lot 1043, the 3d issue of the same date also used on a local envelope realised even more at £4,700, again against an estimate of £2,000. 

Other remarkable realisations for Africa included £8,600 for the Rhodesia and Nyasaland 1960 Kariba 3d with variety red-orange omitted in a mint pair contained in a top marginal strip.  The highest price for the day went to a Sierra Leone 1897 Stamp Duty Provisional, the 21⁄2d, type 13, a fine mint example which realised a healthy £29,800. 

With the overall result in excess of £500,000 and with almost 80% of the lots sold Richard Watkins at Grosvenor commented “this represents a strong result and demonstrates that the interest and demand for stamps and postal history from the Empire continues despite the continued economic situation.  The market continues to remain robust which bodes well for the sale of the “Aurelius” specialised King Edward VII Great Britain collection at Grosvenor on 21^st May”.