As I often write, “the last word in Philately” is NEVER written”.  As living proof of that, a full MUH sheet of 100, of the 1893 $2 value Columbian stamp recently surfaced in Germany, after 123 years of never being recorded by specialists or dealers.  

They were folded flat in a manila folder, consigned by a widow whose husband had somehow obtained it, and some pristine MUH examples of the other high values.  The sheet had separated into 2 panes, due to the long storage. The gum was pristine white MUH, and colours deep and rich.

The existence of this MUH sheet of 100 stamps, with both the sought after Plate Blocks, was not known to the stamp world until they appeared for sale late 2016 in a second string German Auction house, with an insanely low estimate.  An auction with no online bidding option even, and a hopeless website, and not even a photo of the sheet I understand!

Hans Mohrmann in Munich was the lucky Auction who sold these November 15 with little publicity and no online bidding, and earned himself a cool ~150,000 Euro for doing nothing much at all.  He is NOT to be confused with the large Hamburg stamp auction Edgar Mohrmann, purchased by Christoph Gaertner in early 2015.

The 19% German sales tax would have been avoided, had the vendor or her agent flown or mailed or Fedexed the sheet 100 to the USA. Essentially no sales tax there for anyone savvy.  The market for this kind of unique piece is clearly in the USA, and not a small German Auction house with no internet bidding, and as far as I can determine, no catalogue illustration even.

From an opening bid of just €10,000 (about $US10,625), the sheet was purchased by German stamp dealer buyer, Stefan Hempfling. Who, after paying the 20% “Buyer Fee”, and THEN Germany’s 19% value-added tax on top, bought his invoice total to more than $US800,000 - way more than $A1 million.

Hempfling, who is primarily a dealer in German-area stamps and covers, also described himself in a phone interview on November 21 to Linn’s as an avid buyer of “unusual worldwide postal history and stamps.”  He is based in the small town of Viereth-Trunstadt, an hour’s drive north of Nuremberg.

Scott Trepel, President of the market leading Robert A. Siegel Auction Galleries in New York City, flew to Munich to bid in person on this sheet. Trepel was the aggressive under-bidder on the day, but flew home empty-handed from the auction, with no sheet of 100 in his briefcase. 

The sheet’s new owner said the consignor had been an elderly widow, who inherited it, along with many German stamps, after her husband died several decades ago.  She gradually sold off the German material, but the sheet of $2 Columbians and the other high 1893 values remained in her safe.  She took it to Hans Mohrmann, who told her it would “probably fetch more than €10,000” at auction.

Asked whether he intended to preserve the sheet or break it into singles and blocks for resale, Hempfling said he was open to either option, and that his decision would rest on price. “I would be happy to sell it intact,” he said, assuming he can justify it financially. “Perhaps to a museum, or to a wealthy American collector.”

The estimate on the full sheet of 100 was 10,000 Euro.  Just 100 Euro a stamp - about what a current Australia Post Annual Album costs to buy today.  It was as totally stupid, as offering a sheet of 1913 £2 Kangaroos with a E100 a stamp estimate.  The wonders of the stamp auction market, when dealing with elderly widows. Scary. 

Clearly that insane estimate was going to be surpassed, and LUCKILY for the clueless widow, it got surpassed by a huge amount.  Had a large USA Auction house owner NOT flown over, to try and buy them, and been a very aggressive under-bidder, she might have taken a massive bath on the price. Stamp Sellers are truly dumb at times.

The sheet 100 appeared this week in a page ad from the irrepressible Christoph Gaertner of Germany.  That is shown nearby, offered for “Private Treaty Sale - Price On Request”.  Christoph is a very savvy operator.  Hempfling paid over $US800,000, so will clearly want far more than that, and Gaertner will add more on top, so now very clearly a $US1+++ Million mint sheet I’d guess.

I was unable to get an exact asking figure from Gaertner due to time zones, and the weekend, as am right on printer deadline for this Xmas early deadline month. He suggested I phone him back next week, but I am sure we are talking into 7 figures in USD.  HOW many dollars more, you can ask yourself!  And Memo to the Germans - 1893 was not 126 years ago!  

Stamp designers keep coming up with novel ideas to add to postage stamps.  Some are pretty corny, but I really, really, like this one, and the research and work that went into it.  Real craftsman tanned FISH SKIN has been affixed in little squares onto the stamps!

The Faroes Islands are a remote country in the North Sea, and are of course surrounded by Atlantic Cod fish.  Over the centuries Cod fishing has been a mainstream part of the Island economy.

I am booked to fly there in a few months from Scotland, so this recent issue caught my eye - I might even mail a few “Cod Leather” stamped covers to myself from there if still on sale then!  Very cool idea. And 1000 hours of work must have gone into the planning!

So how does a fish skin stamp design actually work?  They were in principle designed as ordinary stamps with text, face value, and a small shaded drawing by master engraver Martin Mörck.  But the similarity stops right there.

Each stamp has a square piece of tanned Cod skin glued onto it.  It is not at all grey and dullish - but incredibly beautiful, and patterned with almost metallic colour tones, which change in hue depending on the angle it is viewed from.  And each stamp is unique patterned as can be seen from the photos.