Epsom & Ewell
Philatelic Society
Large Vermeil winner
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Ultimate First Day Cover
NOT surprisingly the star lot of Stanley Gibbons/Baldwins David Holl Great Britain sale on 11 December 2024 was the 1d Black on cover dated on the first day of use, May 6 1840 (right).
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The estimate was £22-26,000 and that was not far out with the hammer coming down at £27,000.
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It will make a nice page in someone’s album.
Another early first day, in this instance a January 10 1840 Uniform Penny Post cover had an estimate of just £3-400 but made £1.500. Other early first days did well compared to their estimates.
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The auction got off to an inauspicious start with the first 11 lots, all pre-stamp covers, failing to find a bid and lot 12, an 1839 Maritime cover from India only scraped in at £190 against an estimate of £140-180.
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But things soon picked up. The value of knowing dates of issue was emphasized by at least two lots in the Edward VII section of the sale. This cover (below) which could be easily overlooked as a £20 item in a
dealer’s box made £3,800 (estimate £1,500-£1,800). The secret was knowing that the 7d stamp was due for release on May 4, 1910, but the deadline was missed and it did not appear until May 7 – the day this cover was sent.
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There is only one other example of the 7d on a first day cover. Similarly the Edward VII 21/2d perf 14 with the all-important July 10 1911 postmark, lot 99 in the sale. Just a couple are known but there must be a few others out there. This one made £1,800 - what more of an incentive do you need to go and look for one?
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Several George V definitives with first day postmarks made good money.
Items from the 1924 and 1925 British Empire Exhibition were strong. A registered FDC from 1925 with a pair of both stamps made £1,500, twice the estimate. Not all commemoratives did as well. A set of five PUC stamps including the £1 on a sheet of PUC notepaper cancelled by PUC/London cancels for the first day of issue failed to sell. It is catalogued at £14,000 but did not even make a starting bid of £5,000 despite being described as being in superb condition. On the other hand, blocks of four of the low PUC values all pre-cancelled on May 8 1929 found a new home for a whopping £520 – the estimate being just £50-60.​