#Rare #Misprint #Worlds #Christmas #StampUnseen #YearsHighlights #Canadian #Postage #Stamp #Auction #WorthPoint
Ontario auction platform presents first appearance of Queen Elizabeth; among Canada’s postal rarities Dec. 15-21
Image: Maxsold
KINGSTON, ONTARIO, (December 15, 2023) – A rare cache of Canadian postage stamps—including a mistakenly printed 1898 copy of the world’s first Christmas stamp—is heading to auction after being unseen for almost 50 years.
“A trove of rarities like this is discovered only once in a lifetime,” said Will Seippel, a lifelong collector and founder and CEO of the online pricing database WorthPoint.com. “Their superb condition makes this collection the perfect gift for the Canadian who has everything.”
“Many stamps in this auction were misprints or errors and were purposefully kept from the public. The only way they survived was because executives at Canadian stamp printers kept the oddities in collections during the last 100 years,” Seippel said.
Seippel discovered the trove of rare stamps and a one-of-a-kind trove in the estate of a collector in the United States. The late owner was an ardent collector who emigrated from Canada at the end of WWI.
The collector enlisted the help of renowned Canadian philatelist and stamp dealer Kasimir Bileski, an expert who built a lifelong career obtaining and selling Canada’s most scarce stamps. Considered the “King of Canadian Stamps,” Bileski, who passed in 2005, was one of the most respected authorities in the stamp industry throughout North America for most of the 20th century.
He started his stamp dealing business in 1921, at age 13 when he placed his first classified ad for mail-order customers. From his home in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, Bileski’s passion for rare Canadian stamps led to the notable discovery of the “Inverted Seaway of 1959” error stamp, still considered one of the most valuable Canadian stamps ever found. Each stamp was stored in original wrappings with correspondence confirming their authenticity.
Auction highlights include:
A rare error variety of the world’s first Christmas stamp: printed in Canada in 1898, it is the world’s first multi-colored stamp ever printed, depicting in red the countries belonging to the British Empire at the time. That the pair is imperforated adds to its rarity, Seippel said.
The first appearance of Princess Elizabeth on a postage stamp. Created for Newfoundland, fewer than 100 examples of the 6-cent stamp still exist, which is desirable because it is a trial proof defaced with black lines across the text. Queen Elizabeth is the most-pictured person on stamps in history, and her first appearance as a child carries special value among collectors.
One of 50 known misprinted 1979 Canadian Christmas stamps, considered the most famous of all Canada error stamps. The 35-cent stamp was issued for the country’s “Year of the Child theme” and features two distinct errors: Aside from an image of a doll, it is missing the word CANADA and does not feature its 35-cent value.
Additional error stamp ranges featured in the sale include those printed for Newfoundland (before joining the confederation in 1949), color variants, inverted printings, missing perforations, and more.
The 200-lot auction accepts worldwide bidding beginning on Friday, Dec. 15, 2023, and will begin closing at 8 p.m. EST on Thursday, Dec. 21, 2023, through MaxSold.com, an auction service headquartered in Kingston, Ontario. MaxSold manages 186 locations across Canada and roughly 400 locations across the United States.
Interview contacts:
Will Seippel, CEO of WorthPoint, discovered the trove of rare stamps.
404-931-7916
[email protected]
Russ Patterson, CEO of MaxSold
905-302-7236 cell
[email protected]
About WorthPoint
Founded in 2007, WorthPoint is the world’s largest pricing source to value art, antiques, and collectibles within a $360 billion global marketplace. More than 200,000 users visit WorthPoint.com daily to view the Price Guide, which hosts 750+ million auction prices realized and 2+ billion images aggregated from online marketplaces and leading auction houses.
Additionally, WorthPoint provides an industry-leading suite of research and data tools, including a Dictionary of reference articles, a digital Library from leading publishers and institutional archives, a visual database of identifiable makers’ marks, and a digital Vault to store information and images on a variety of in-home valuables and alternative investments. WorthPoint’s Insider newsletter reaches over 200,000 subscribers weekly, and its mobile app—now with visual search recognition—is available for iOS and Android.
About MaxSold
MaxSold’s mission is to make the process of selling a large volume of contents approachable, quick, and fun—connecting sellers with an extensive network of engaged and interested buyers to sell everything within two weeks.
MaxSold connects sellers to an existing pool of interested bidders and buyers. We market the auction to new potential buyers on digital platforms and generate interest among local bidders through our newsletters and social channels. MaxSold works because it is the best solution for people and businesses looking to quickly sell a large volume of stuff. There is no other way to do it while getting market value for your items. The old way was to pay out of pocket for a dumpster to haul everything away fast. The new way is to MaxSold and give items a second life while delighting local buyers with unique, interesting goods they can use.
Hi-Res images available:
Eric Bradley, VP of Public Relations
470-580-1238;
[email protected]
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