Welcome Letter
ACE STAMP AUCTIONS SALE No. 35
Cannington Exhibition Centre, Corner Albany Highway & Station St, Cannington
Auctioneers: Rob Mandanici & Terry Finlayson
Once again, I have pleasure in presenting our latest catalogue with 2770 lots from over 60 vendors allowing us to offer an excellent cross section of material.
Our Coins & Banknotes section has expanded after the last auction to offer a range of RAM and Perth Mint issues as well as overseas coins and some gold lots including the 2006 40th Anniv of Decimal Currency "Eight Coin Gold Set" in 24 carat gold (4.19oz). (lot 173).
Our box lots and collections have some outstanding opportunities for resellers and those of you who have become Ebay aficionados. Whilst there are many collections that allow you to fill gaps or even start a new area of collecting.
Kangaroos and KGV have never been stronger than in this auction with the immediate highlights being on the front cover and inside colour plates. The star items being the 1913 £1 brown & blue 1st watermark in a top right marginal corner block of 4 (lot 1341) and the 1915/29 £1 chocolate & dull blue, 3rd watermark, block of 9 ovptd "SPECIMEN" with a couple of listed varieties. This is superb MUH and believed to be originally from the Australia Post Archives. (lot 1414) Whilst appreciating these, also be impressed with the array of multiples and shades on offer in the numerous other lots as well as the collections.
Another vendor has provided some more of his Zeppelin covers found in the Airmail section plus various Concorde first flights and some of the earlier Australian flights including "Rocket Mail" (lots 806-869).
The increasing interest in PNC's is reflected by our record number of 156 lots with reserves totaling over $12,000 (lots 2167-2322) including the rarely seen "Cancelled by Covid" Perth Stamp & Coin Show issue signed by the Mayor of South Perth (lot 2307).
We have also become aware of the demand for the issues of the last 20 years including Australian booklets and those overprinted for various shows and events. These were championed by the late Sel Pfeffer and catalogued by Joe Crum. We have taken the time to break these down into single lots for the specialist. (lots 2088-2149)
The Australian Officials section has been enhanced by lots from Keith Docking, Peter Goodall and Garry Constable where lots such as the 1915/28 10/- grey & pale aniline pink, 3rd wmk in MUH top right marginal corner block of 4 perfined "OS" are highlights. (lots 1777-1926)
Our Western Australian section continues to expand, and our thanks go to Milton Hook for the amazing Telegraphs and barred numerals and Chris Sykes and Brian Pope for their contributions including the highly debated inverted 1884 "½" surcharge on 1d yellow-ochre! These lots allow the postmark, postcard, revenue and WA Postal History enthusiasts to add to their own collections with established pedigrees! (lots 917-1305)
There are simply too many lots to continue to mention but I urge you to visit our website where we have uploaded over 2000 images (www.acestampauctions.com) or see us on Stand 13 at The Canberra Stamp Show where we will have a selection of lots available for viewing.
Talking of shows, I can now confirm the 2025 Perth Stamp & Coin Show which will be held at the usual location, South Perth Community Centre, from Friday 7th to Sunday 9th March 2025 with over 30 dealers confirmed plus the return of The Perth Mint. So mark your diaries now!
In closing, this auction heralds reserves of over $10,000,000 since we started in 2008, describing some 63,000 lots from over 1200 vendors. This is an amazing achievement as we are not "one of the big boys" with numerous staff, budgets and "flash" premises and catalogues. I thank the Australian collecting community and even more so, the local West Australians for their support as both vendors and buyers. Sales are rapidly approaching the same figure reflecting our sensible reserves and 75%-85% sale rate.
My sincere thanks also go to the team who contribute in producing these auction catalogues and assist on the auction weekends. John McPhee and Trevor Lacy with their describing, Marc Poupart in IT, Liz Sharp and Caroline Read with administration, Dee and Skeet with lot pulling and labelling, Damon Mayston with logistics and Mick Evans with PR plus the vital skills of Rob Mandanici, lead auctioneer, and Terry Finlayson calling the sales. Last, but very much not least, my wife Christine who is still around after 35 auctions, 17 Perth Stamp & Coin Shows, 22 years of marriage and 30 years of being mystified by this wonderful hobby!
Ian Boulton