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World Record Price for PNG Cover!

By Glen Stephens

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  An advertisement in Australasian STAMPS has secured for a Melbourne dealer what is believed to be a world record price.

The happy seller was the Australian Stamp & Coin Company, based in the Forest Hill Chase Shopping Centre, located in an eastern suburb of Melbourne. The envelope was illustrated as part of their 24 page sale listing which appeared in the centre of the February magazine.

Our cover story in February edition pictured the unique commercial envelope franked with two 1994 50t on 35t Gogodala Mask stamps with striking double overprints.

This clearly commercial cover was postmarked Goroka January 13th 1995, and addressed to a large correspondence school in the USA. The envelope was purchased by the dealer in June 1997 at the large PACIFIC 97 International in San Francisco from an American collector.

The postmark on the cover exactly matches a single used copy of this inverted overprint located in kiloware 7 months earlier by Lance Skinner, well known Sydney based specialist collector. Not only do both "finds" have the identical postmark, right down to the 12:30 PM time slug, they both are struck in an unusual violet black ink.

This cover sold on March 3rd for $4,750 to a Queensland collector, beating out a number of bids received on this item from all over the world. It is believed to be a record price for any Papua New Guinea postage stamp item, and also a record price for any post war cover from PNG.

It is expected Stanley Gibbons and Scott will list this double overprint in future catalogues. The equally spectacular inverted overprint that occurs on the same stamp is already listed as SG #736a, and sells readily through auction for about $1,500 despite a complete sheet of 50 being discovered and sold by the writer. Coincidentally these were also purchased near Goroka in the central Highlands, the site of this latest find.

THREE COPIES REPORTED

Despite the front cover publicity for this double overprint back in February, no other copies have been reported to me or the owners of these exciting stamps, so it appears the single used copy and used pair on cover are the only examples recorded.

Mr Lance Skinner the owner of the single copy, told me today he is delighted with his discovery, and has no intention of selling, as he has a very specialised collection of the fascinating 1994 "Emergency Overprints" series. New owner of the unique "double overprint" cover is a Queensland collector who also has a large collection of the very popular PNG 1994 issues. This same collector also owns the rather spectacular 15 Kina Departure Tax stamp on Qantas ticket, illustrated on the front cover of the February magazine.

The new owner said today: "this cover is the centerpiece of my collection. I agree completely with the comment made by Mr Eastick in the magazine that the cover was 'surely the most significant piece of legitimate PNG history ever recorded'. I was determined to secure this item at almost any cost, and would have paid a great deal more if competition necessitated" he continued.

He said: "two single copies of the New Zealand 1996 'Teddy Bear' error sold at Auction last week in Sydney for $4,850, despite several hundreds of copies being recorded. By paying somewhat LESS than that price for a clearly unique cover franked with two copies of a major printing error from a very popular country is probably the best stamp buy of my lifetime."

"BEST EVER ADVERTISING RESPONSE"

Manager of the Australian Stamp & Coin Company is Mr. Michael Eastick, who was naturally delighted with the strong result. "We received tremendous response to our sale listing in Australasian STAMPS - our best ever advertising response" he told me today. "Not only did we sell material to your readers all over the world, but many of these names were totally new clients to us, and we are delighted to know we had material diverse enough, and competitively priced enough, to attract their custom" he continued.

"The response was so great we have booked another thick sale insert into the 'May' edition of Australasian STAMPS. I have just stepped off a plane from a buying trip to both Europe and USA, and secured some wonderful material on this trip. Much of it will be included in this next sale, and some of it I am confident has never before been offered on the Australian market previously," said Mr Eastick.

Readers requiring a complimentary advance copy of the sale catalogue may write to Mr. Eastick at:

P.O. Box 156
Forest Hill
Victoria 3131

AUSTRALIA

   

 

                                               

Papua New Guinea 1994 
Rare "Emergency Overprints":
 

Papua New Guinea 1994 "Emergency Overprints":   I do now have, and have always had, the largest stock of these overprints in the world.  Buy DIRECT from the original "source"!  Thousands of collectors NEED this set to complete their collections.  Only 45,000 were ever printed, NONE were sold by the agents, Papua New Guinea Bureau, or even Australia Post.  Nearly all were used up on genuine commercial mail.   Not discovered by stamp world until months after all the key values all used up!  I first reported their existence to the stamp world.
  
"Set of 11" - SG # 730/740.  Michel # 714 -724.   Scott  # 860/871.  ASC Cat $A420.
 

Local Richard Juzwin retail price is $A330.   The Seven Seas Stamps "Australian Stamp Catalogue" (ASC) price for the set 11 is $A420.  MUH set of 11 - my VERY special DISCOUNT price offer for this month is: $A275.   Or MUH blocks of 4 (very rare) $A1,250.   I also have the earlier and later overprints also at terrific discount prices.   For a complete set of TWENTY different overprints my discount price is $A335 or that full set 20 in MUH blocks 4 for $A1,500.   These will never be cheaper.  

 

Definitive sets like the 1967 Anguilla overprints are already cat at £9,000 in Stanley Gibbons ... and Anguilla has NOTHING like even 1% of the collector following of PNG I suspect. Think about it! £9,000. This PNG set has a LONG way to go yet - that seems very clear.  This PNG set selling for DOUBLE my price would not surprise me to see in the next few years. For very detailed and comprehensive background on this issue with all numbers printed etc -  see my special page on these issues:  https://www.glenstephens.com/overprints.html

 

Finally -  all the 1994 "Emergency" sets I sell are of course guaranteed 100% genuine.  You may ask for a Photo Certificate Of Genuineness on my security watermarked colour letterhead for this set of 11 or 20, dated and signed, illustrating in full colour the exact set I mail you. If required, this CERTIFICATE costs you an extra $A45 on top of price of the stamps, largely to cover the considerable time and messing around of individually preparing each one, typing, and scanning &c.  This is Substantially cheaper than sending it to the R.P.S. in London etc,  which takes half a year to get back, and also incurs substantial Registered airmail cost to you - in both directions.   And quite frankly, the RPS would not have a clue about these issues.  'Too Modern' they would sniff.   Years down the track when the set sells for several times what it does now, such a certificate Guaranteeing these came from original PNG sources in 1994/5 will add FAR more than $A45 to the extra price you obtain when selling.  

 

 

This is the special PNG cover mentioned in the article.
Shown courtesy of Michael Eastick.


 

These articles are all Copyright © 1999 Glen Stephens. They may NOT be reprinted or used without written permission. However, permission will be granted for virtually any reasonable useage purpose, providing full and correct attribution to the writer and magazine is given. Applicable scans from articles in black and white or color can also be arranged to be E-mailed to you.

Above is one of my Market Man "Tipster" columns published in the Australasian STAMPS Magazine.

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GLEN $TEPHEN$

Life Member: ASDA, PTS, APS, ANDA. ALL Postage + Insurance is extra. Visa/BankCard/MasterCard/Diners/Amex all OK, even for "Lay-Bys"! All lots offered are subject to my usual Conditions of Sale, copy upon request or they are outlined in full on this Web site. Usually allow at least 14 days for order dispatch. If you want same day shipping please go elsewhere! I am Sydney's BIGGEST STAMP BUYER: Post me ANYTHING via Registered Mail for my same-day cheque. Avoid  NASTY auction "commissions" of GENERALLY 35% (12½ + 15% + GST, etc.) AND their five-month delays! Read this for details. I stock Australia & Pacifics nearly 100% complete 1913-1980. Ask for my LOW quote!

"Lothlórien," No. 4 The Tor Walk, CASTLECRAG (Sydney), N.S.W. 2068
Phone: (02) 9958-1333 Fax: (02) 9958-1444 (Both 25 Hours, 7 Days!)
E-Mail:
glen@glenstephens.com
Web Sites: www.GlenStephens.com, www.GlenStephens.net, or www.AustralianStamps.net

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