Worldwide and Great Britain

1.00 pm   Wednesday January 27th 2010

Catalogue

View Auction 725

 

featuring
THE DR. FRANK BOTTOMLEY COLLECTION OF WORLDWIDE FREE FRANKS, 1653-1840.

I first met Frank in the late 1970s when he had already embarked on the creation of what was to become THE definitive collection of the postal marks and postal usages of the British Franking System. In 'real life' he was a General Practioner in West Bromwich for many years, and also worked as the Medical Officer of that town's eponymous football team. He still follows his old club, but has decided that now is the time to call it a day with regard to his Free Franks collection. His displays to the Society of Postal Historians are legendary; he combined astonishing encyclopaedic historical knowledge with a light touch and a wicked sense of humour that have never been equalled. ... more

POST SALE REPORT
Keen buyer activity continues in the Midlands with excellent prices 

A packed room from about 9.30 am for viewing augured well for the auction and as the hammer fell on Lot 1 the auctioneer had difficulty spotting who was bidding due to the numbers of people attending! 
The Collections and mixed lots proved as popular as ever and an early surprise in the Postal History lots were the results of lots 150 & 151, the World War II Airgraphs lots with estimates at £180 & £150, these were left far behind and ended up at £1404 & £3,042 respectively! A collection of Zeppelin covers & cards estimated at £400 reached £1521 (#172). An 1898 cover from Ascension Island with 1d lilac franking made £877 (#207), an Australian imprint strip of 3 of the 1915 4d orange with inverted watermark, with an estimate of £75, was taken to £585 (#217) and the consistent market for China was emphasised by the £2,223 paid for the stock book of mint modern China, estimated at £800 (#256). One rarely hears of high realisations for Dominica but the 1882 cover to Liverpool with 4d blue pair made £643 (#275), whereas Falkland Islands material regularly stars & the mounted mint Centenary set (#304) made £1,638 & New Zealand lots were popular with the collection (#353) coming in at £1,638 on a £750 estimate & the 1913 Postal Fiscal 2/- variety at £1,521(#368) & the following lot, the 1925 5/- postal fiscal variety block, at £1053. This was followed by the Postal Fiscal collection KGV – KGVI (#370) which topped out at an impressive £2,574 (Estimate £750) & lot 371, the £4.10s postal fiscal, at £877.



China still a hot ticket


In the GB section there were quite a few four-figure results in the collection lots including £1,170 paid for a plastic tub of 1d reds perf 14 LC wmk (#435) & £7,605 for a group of 1d red imperf plate reconstructions between pl.102 & 131 (#525). The Bradford cds £5 orange made £1,989 (#560) with the following lot, slightly less fine at £1,638. Lot 617, the 1st De La Rue Castles 1958 lot was taken to £1,287 & the star of the GB postal history section was the Newton Abbot Ship Letter cover of 1819 at £1,053 (#698). 

The Dr. Frank Bottomley collection of worldwide Free Franks was the core of the sale with 165 lots. With the first lot (#713), the 1653 “Haste Post Haste” letter from Kent to London giving news of the ships after the battle of Scheveningen, making £11,700, this set the standard for the rest of this section of 200 lots. Other impressive results from this section were the 1662 Entire signed by King Charles II at £2,223 (#717), the 1783 returned mail wrapper with “Bye & Cross Road Letter Office” & original contents at £877 (#740), the laurel leaves “FREE/C” (Coltson) mark in red on 1791 letter from London to Margate which also made £877 (#752). The previous lot made £936 being the “FREE/A” (Addison) mark in red on another 1791 cover from London to Margate (#751). 

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