Lady Bury's stamp collection fetches £3m at Sotheby's

A unique stamp collection which belonged to a County Down aristocrat has sold for more than £3m at auction. 

A total of £3,045,924 was raised as Lady Mairi Bury's unique 19th century postage stamps went under the hammer at Sotheby's in London. The final figure significantly exceeded pre-sale expectations of £2.6m.

Lady Bury's collection of King Edward VII stamps was the top selling lot at the auction. It fetched £66,000, more than three times its guide price.

An unused 2p blue issued in 1840 was the surprise success of the sale. It soared above its £8,000 guide price and eventually fetched £43,500.

The auction closed at 1730 GMT on Friday after three days and 2,185 lots.

Lady Bury is recognised as the world's greatest ever female philatelist and her collection is regarded as one of the finest to be auctioned in the last 25 years.

It includes examples of every variety of the Penny Black ever produced.

One such stamp, which was prepared for official use in 1840 but never used, sold for £36,000 on Thursday.
'A leading light'
 
The sale at Sotheby's follows Lady Mairi's death last year. She passed away in November last year aged 88, having spent most of her life at her ancestral home at Mount Stewart in County Down.

In addition to thousands of stamps, the sale includes early examples of printed envelopes and letters relating to another of her passions, Victorian sensations and scandals.

Among them is a letter posted on 13 June, 1840, using a Penny Black, which refers to the attempted assassination of Queen Victoria three days previously by Edward Oxford in London. It fetched £1,140.

Speaking after the auction Sotheby's philatelic consultant, Richard Ashton said: "Throughout her remarkable life, during which stamp collecting was just one of the many pursuits she tackled with the most incredible detail, Lady Mairi sought out items that added anything of interest to her collection.

"Something for £50 gave her as much pleasure as something one hundred times that amount.

"The auction has afforded collectors the opportunity to own philatelic objects associated with a leading light in the stamp world, as Lady Mairi was duly esteemed in her field and honoured with numerous philatelic awards.
"It is pleasing to think that collectors can now derive the same enjoyment from these stamps as Lady Mairi did".

Lady Mairi's life was as colourful as her collection.

She learned to fly a plane when she was 11 and as a child met Adolf Hitler during a trip to Germany with her father.

She later said of the Nazi dictator: "I thought, what a nondescript person. No, I'm afraid no aura of evil, no sense of foreboding, a rather quiet voice."

Source - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-11846616

Lady Mairi Bury's stamp collection getting record prices at Sotheby's London!

A vast stamp collection which belonged to Lady Mairi Bury, an aristocrat who famously met Hitler and described him as “nondescript”, went under the hammer yesterday. 

It is regarded as one of the finest British collections to be auctioned in the last 25 years and includes examples of every variety of Penny Black ever produced.

The sale at Sotheby’s follows the death last year of Lady Mairi, who is revered as one of the greatest ever female philatelists and an eccentric who greeted guests with a parrot on her shoulder.

The first 754 items fetched over £600,000 yesterday, including an imprimatur of a Penny Black from the first ever registration sheet in 1840, which sold for £22,800.

However, with a total of 2,185 lots on offer, the sale is due to run throughout today and tomorrow and is expected to fetch around £2.6 million in all.

Highlights include several examples of Penny Blacks – the world’s first postage stamps – including one used on the first day of official use – May 6, 1840 – which has an estimated value of £70,000.

The collection boasts stamps from all 12 plates which were used to print the 68 million Penny Blacks produced.

There is also a selection of Two Pence Blue stamps, which are much rarer than Penny Blacks as only 6.4 million were printed.

In addition to thousands of stamps, the sale includes early examples of printed envelopes and letters relating to another of her passions – Victorian sensations and scandals.

Among them is a letter posted on June 13, 1840, using a Penny Black, which refers to the attempted assassination of Queen Victoria three days previously by Edward Oxford in London. It fetched £1,140.
Richard Ashton, Sotheby’s philatelic consultant, said: “This collection is one of the finest to have been formed in recent years.

“Lady Mairi not only acquired items of considerable worth because of their rarity, but also a whole host of more humble stamps and covers that are in immaculate condition.

"Although there would have been very little that was outside her financial reach, she was far more interested in buying something that added to the interest of her collection.

“Something for £50 gave her as much pleasure as something that was £5,000."

He said the collection was particularly unusual because it belonged to a woman, despite philately being a “male-dominated field”.

Lady Mairi’s life was as colourful as her collection. She learned to fly a plane aged 11 and as a child met Adolf Hitler during a trip to Germany with her father, the 7th Marquess of Londonderry.

She later said of the Nazi dictator: “I thought, what a nondescript person. No, I'm afraid no aura of evil, no sense of foreboding, a rather quiet voice.”

Although from a highly privileged background, she served in the motor transport section of the Women's Legion in London during the Second World War and became a qualified mechanic.

She discovered stamp collecting aged eight and went on to win numerous Gold and Vermeil medals at British and international stamp exhibitions.

Lady Mairi died in November last year aged 88 having spent most of her life at her ancestral home – Mount Stewart in Co Down, Northern Ireland – which was taken over by the National Trust in 1977.

 Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/royal-mail/8157095/Lady-Mairi-Burys-stamp-collection-to-fetch-2.6m-at-auction.html

Royal Mail launches lenticular stamps for Thunderbirds anniversary

Royal Mail is launching a set of lenticular stamps featuring key characters and scenes from Gerry Anderson puppet TV shows of the 1960s.

The lenticular set is part of the 50th anniversary range of stamps featuring Stingray, Joe 90, Captain Scarlett and Thunderbirds, and Royal Mail's first 'motion stamps'.

The four-stamp miniature sheet features Thunderbird 5 on its border and Thunderbirds 1-4 on the individual stamps.

The range marks the 50th anniversary of the TV shows and will be available next year between first class and 97p denominations.

Stamps spokesperson Philip Parker said: "I'm delighted that Royal Mail is celebrating [Gerry Anderson's] ingenuity and inventiveness with our first stamp issue of 2011, and our first motion stamps. I'm sure that collectors and TV fans alike will enjoy the chance to see the opening credits of Thunderbirds again - but this time through the technology of stamps!"

The stamps are printed by Outer Aspect Ltd, of Aukland, New Zealand and contain 36 microthin key frames that make up the motion sequence that lasts several seconds.

These microthin slices were placed side by side and printed onto the back of a special clear magnifying lens in reverse so that they read correctly through the lens from the front.

The lens refracts the light in such a way that different but complete frames are displayed depending on the viewing angle, and by changing this angle the frames play in sequence.

Source: http://www.printweek.com/printbuying/news/1043074/Royal-Mail-launches-lenticular-stamps-Thunderbirds-anniversary/

Hamilton Township NJ Philatelic Society celebrates 35 years

Before the widespread reach of the Internet, people found other ways to travel from their own homes.
Ed Murtha of Hamilton began collecting stamps as a young man. An older cousin helped him gain interest in the hobby, and neighbors gave him stamps when they received letters from relatives in places such as Italy, Hungary and Russia.

Murtha collected the stamps and learned about their countries of origin. He often imagined the places as he viewed the stamps.

“When I was young, in my teens and before that, that’s how we used to travel,” Murtha said.
Now, Murtha is president of the Hamilton Township Philatelic Society, which celebrated its 35th anniversary on October 19.

Philately involves the collection or study of postal history and materials, such as stamps.

Joseph Seliga, the club’s historian, said that many of the group’s original members belonged to the stamp club in Trenton, but an interest developed for an organization that was more local.

Murtha has belonged to the organization for about 10 years. During that time, he has seen the club change and evolve.

“It’s gone through some ups and downs,” Murtha said. “Back in 2005, we were down to about 10 members.”

The society currently has 54 dues-paying members, Murtha said.

Not surprisingly, when membership was low, the society turned to the mail as an avenue that could potentially help. Someone from the organization contacted the American Philatelic Society (APS), which is based in Bellefonte, Pa. The APS provided addresses of local collectors, and the Hamilton Township Philatelic Society mailed information about their club, Murtha said.

One person who received the mailing was APS member Tony Zingale of Mercerville. Zingale shares an interest in philately with a friend, Jack Sack of Lawrenceville, and the two men joined the Hamilton Township Philatelic society at the same time, about five years ago.

Zingale is interested in the business aspect of philately. He began collecting stamps as a child, and started selling them as a teenager. He abandoned the hobby after his teenage years, and returned to it after his own children had reached adulthood.

Zingale sells stamps online and within the two stamp clubs where he is a member.

Sack is more interested in building a collection. One of his goals is to get at least one stamp from every stamp-issuing entity in the world. So far, he has collected stamps from 800 or 900 of those 1,000 countries and entities.

He enjoys the hunting aspect of the hobby.

“There’s a certain order to it, there’s a search. You find out what you need, and search for it,” Sack said.
The Hamilton Township Philatelic Society holds its meetings at the Hamilton Township Library on the third Tuesday of each month. Meetings usually include a business portion, where members discuss plans and finances, and a presentation that discusses an aspect of philately, Murtha said.

Sack said that the club hosts guest speakers, or features presentations by its own members. There is also an opportunity for members to sell or auction stamps.

Sack enjoys the chance that the organization provides for people interested in philately to share friendship and knowledge.

“I finally learned more about stamp collecting than I had in 30 years before that,” Sack said.
Members of the society agree that the future of stamp collecting is uncertain.

Murtha said that the club has had a few youth members, but that the hobby has changed over time. With rising postal rates and an increase in metered mail, stamps are not as accessible.

Although youth members can’t always attend meetings due to commitments with school and other obligations, Murtha said the club tries to keep them involved by sending newsletters and packets of stamps.

Murtha said that his collecting interests have changed over time. He now collects stamps from Sudan, where his brother was stationed during a stint in the air force. Other members collect stamps depicting certain themes, or those from specific countries or time periods.

Murtha believes that his interest in the hobby has paid dividends. He remembers a time when the Falkland Islands were in the news, and it seemed that fellow stamp collectors were among those most knowledgable about the geographic location of those islands.

“You become better educated. You get better at Jeopardy if you collect stamps,” Murtha said with a laugh.
More information about the Hamilton Township Philatelic Society is available online at hamiltonphilatelic.org.

Source:  http://www.mercerspace.com/article/84680-hamilton+township+philatelic+society+celebrates+35+years