Cinderella Bargains....rare Occasions?

I recently started a thread about the steadily rising prices of Cinderella items.

https://goscf.com/t/10342&SearchTerms=Cinderellas

Of course there are always exceptions and today arrived one of the biggest exceptions I have had the pleasure to win.
It was not cheap, but when put against the items I covered in the other thread, it was a true bargain.

It may not mean much to most here, or anywhere else for that matter, but for those I outbid....they truly missed out.
Let me explain:

The item in question is modern, 2007 to be precise.
Until 2009, a big Thematic Exhibition was held twice-yearly in London. In 2007, the big European Thematic show, Eurothema, joined the British show in a joint venture.
The British Philatelic Bulletin gave away 6 Thematica Souvenir Sheets in a competition, all signed by designer Jeffrey Matthews and inserted in a special card. 10 of these cards were also given away at the Eurothema area as a special presentation.
The item is listed but unpriced in the catalogue [Exhibition catalogue] because none ever come on the market.

One week ago today, I saw one ! My jaw dropped and I began to shiver. It was ending the next day. I won it after a fight for only £20 [including postage] when it could easily have gone well over a £100 !
It is probably the biggest Cinderella bargain I have ever had the pleasure to buy. I am glad that there were not too many Exhibition collectors around at the time [there usually is ].

Here it is, my Exhibition treasure.







If anyone comes across a Cinderella bargain, show it here [and make me envious!]

Londonbus1

Well done Londonbus ! That seems like a great find at a great price ! It is always great when you pickup something for way cheaper than you were willing to pay, did you pick this up off ebay ?

Yes I did. It was a seller I knew and had spoken to before on a forum or two. He said he found it a Box lot he purchased for breaking down to re-sell. Maybe the owner, possibly a lucky Bulletin winner gave up collecting or passed away.
Sometimes little gems like this can be found in odd little boxes.

The seller did not know the story and I had the pleasure of telling him !

Londonbus1

I hope you told him the story after you received the item! I remember when I found a very well known South African variety - "Falling Ladder" on a stock card with various other union stamps. Cat alone for the variety is £225 and I got the whole lot for £32 - not sure if the seller even noticed the variety, the card was overstocked and I was delighted!

I told him after I won it and paid for it. He had to send it, he had no choice.

Yes, I remember your 'falling ladder'. Where is your Stamp room now ?

I have got rid of the fishtank, the stamp room is now a spare room (so space for people to stay). Moved wardrobes and now have desk in the room downstairs - it has really opened up space and I have easy access to everything - only problem is so does Holly ! :)

Here's another one that missed the bidders !
Just arrived today, this label [in a pair] is not often seen [by me] and when it is, the gum and general condition is usually poor.
The reason for this is the thin paper used for printing, which also accounts for the rough perforations.
However, this one came in superb condition, almost perfect gum and fresh as the day it was made, Stunning is how I'd describe it.

The label comes in three colours, Black,Grey-Blue and Grey-Green.All are valued the same.The black is rouletted. I have never seen a copy.

Issued for the London Stamp Exhibition at Memorial Hall, Farringdon, London 16-24th November 1928.



Londonbus1
------------------------------------------

Congratulation's iam new to collecting stamps.I kinda got a lot of old valuable stamps drooped into my lap.now I'm looking to sell them.but I can understand the excitement

Cinderella bargains are still a bit thin on the ground.
However, a packet arrived today from someone I know and there were some wonderful items, all in excellent condition.

I have posted most of them on other threads, Flags,Exhibitions and Sales but the last one I will post here. Almost 75 years old, it is in as pristine a condition as I have ever seen a stamp or sheet. It looks like it has just been printed.
A Poster Stamp advertsing the International Philatelic Week, November 1937.
Printed by Kirby-Cogeshall-Steinau of Milwaukee, dealers in Poster Stamps and albums. The info is printed on the gummed side.

A similar Blue stamp was issued for the same Philatelic week in 1938.

A gem and only 99p.





Londonbus1

One man's bargain can be too expensive for someone else but there are still 'unconsidered trifles' around for those who seek them out! It all comes down to perception too - linked to detailed knowledge. Nice finds! My area of interest is in cinderellas (and postage stamps, covers, etc) of the George VI era generally and in anything to do with the 1937 Coronation in particular. I have been fortuate enough to be able to acquire most things for British cinderellas, including some things that have puzzled others, plus some commonwealth items but I have seen a quite sharp increase in prices recently - on ebay and elsewhere, both prices asked for BIN type sales and in those realised in auctions.

I think that cinderellas have been underrated in the past. For the purist they are not 'real' stamps so have often been shunned and because detailed information is often difficult to find as to source, date, etc which can make them difficult to collect systematically for novices. Even within the cinderella field there are many types. From those commemorating a specific public event (coronation, jubilee, etc) to others that might be celebrating a philatelic event/congress, those making a political point or simply intended for tourists. The range is large! They are often beautifully produced, sometimes of a higher quality than 'real' stamps of the country/period and there is often scope for those who look at the small details for misprints, plate variations, and all the rest of philatelic minutae. I like them!

This one was new to me recently and, living in Kent, I was glad to have it. The postmark gives a date of 1948 but I am uncertain as yet who issued it. I thought it a bargain on ebay at a couple of pounds.

Chris Wren

Another acquisition is just a bit of fun. Not a cinderella but a 'spoof':

It purports to be a 1937 Coronation cover with stamps from Lundy Island - a place with a long history of unofficial (so far as the UK government is concerned) stamps but I cannot trace it among issues listed. The name and address details give the game away - this is Tony Hancock, the famed radio and tv comedian. He first broadcast, 'living' at 23 Railway Cuttings, in 1954 and this series of his work ended around 1960 so this rules it out as being anything legitimately to do with the 1937 Coronation or dating from then. I suspect that it is a much more recent concoction than this though as the name and address, plus the red cancellation, look to have been applied by a dot matrix printer. However, the 'stamps' seem to be properly printed, decently perforated and stuck onto the cover (not just direct printed onto it) and the black cancellations have been separately applied (looks like a rubber stamp) so someone went to considerable trouble to create it - and not just by scanning real Coronation stamps and changing the country name either as the design is very different so they have been created from scratch. Googling the details has not turned up anything that would suggest why or when it was produced so it remains a small mystery for me. Hancock died in 1968 but this cover looks to be even more recent than that so the question is why would it have been made? As I said earlier, just a bit of fun but intriguing too! Chris Wren

crwhb,

Both the stamps and cover are the work of Gerald King, who created many spoof items of Lundy using Colonial designs.

Both the covers and stamps command good prices these days.
I have a few somwwhere, will fish them out later.

But first, the Grandson is about to appear, always a lot of fun !

Londonbus1

Aha! I have heard of Gerald King. Nice that it has some value too. It still has a place in my collection with its link to the 1937 Coronation. Very many thanks for the information. Have fun with the Grandson!! I don't have any, just a 22 year old daughter and a 19 year old son - though they often act like 5 year olds! Chris Wren