Why Did This Son Sell For So Much Money

Ive seen Morris street cancels... Why did this one soar so high?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/CANADA-5c-V...em1e83ca9f33

Good question!

My guesses:
1/
Early date for the 5c (Unitrade lists it as not being printed until 1899, but that could be a typo, as the rest are 1898).

2/
Two (depp pocket) collectors that want to complete a Morris Street cancel collection. This is probably the only known cancel on a 5c QV Leaf.

I suspect #2.

Never heard of Morris Street. Why is it so special?

Cool.

I agree on the dating and the deep pockets, darn it.

I like the 7 seconds remaining before the end of the auction when both high bids were put in. This new technology is amazing.


Morris St. Halifax NS cancels are one of the ones where the Post Master and clerks mostly were very diligent at placing exacting CDS cancellations on their mail pieces.

I have heard of one such calendar made of these cancels, a whole year at least, of dates, not all that expensive of course.


It could be that just the early dating was found to be of investing interest also.

This stamp is from the "Leaf" issue so it is Scott 70.

My Unitrade catalogue shows the 5c Leaf was released Dec 10, 1897, over 8 months prior to the cancel on the stamp, so nothing special there.

Check the '11 bids' history of this item ... perhaps one of the bidders meant to bid $42 (a $1 bid more than the previous high) but accidently typed $425*. Then the next 'auto' bid was set to the automatic next increment of $430.

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* it would be easy for one finger to type the 4, another finger type the 2 while the first finger slips slightly and hits the 5. In ones haste to complete the transaction before the item closed they quickly accepted the confirmation. Ironically, thankfully for this person their bid was beaten at the last second so their typing blunder was not a huge mistake.

Studystamps, my mistake on the date issue. I was tired...
It is a "Leaf" (I even noted that).

Your theory is interesting, but wouldn't it require 2 people to make the typo at the same time for it to go to that price?

Of course, there is still the question of whether the winner will actually pay up.

It may very well be re-listed, or sold to the third runner-up.

I just can't see anyone paying that amount for a used 5c QV Leaf, even if the cancel is nice (and potentially scarce).

I was selling of some duplicate Jubilees and Leaf Queens that had some Halifax cancels and received a message through ebay from a member asking if I had any Morris street cancels. So I know of at least one collector who searches every avenue looking for them.

I've seen messages from a few people who have said that they bid way over the price they expect to pay, and so have the highest bid. They're counting on everyone else to make reasonable bids or bargain bids. Maybe 2 of them bumped heads on this auction.

because the bids were 41, 425 and 430, the typo theory does make sense. I could see 2 bidders both making a typo in the last second flurry to snipe the stamp. Lets see if the seller re-lists the stamp or gets feedback.

The top 2 bidders have high feedback and zero retraction history...

EDIT: this seller seems to specialize in nicely placed cancels and based on feedback both these bidders are repeat customers.

Also remember that when it comes to personal ties and specialty collecting there is no "Catalog value"

Hi everyone,
As the seller of this item I can assure you there were no typing errors in the bidding. I've sold a few. Morris Street cancels on higher value small queens, jubilees , leafs and numerals are much scarcer than lower value 1C, 2C values etc. Very nice forum here. Thanks

Thank you everyone for the responses....

Boris...... Congrats on your sale and insight into the final sale price.

Boris, thanks for confirming the sale.
I will have to look at my Morris street cancels again, though as you say, they are mostly on lower values.

Does anyone know if it's just Morris street cancels on higher values that are sought after? or are there other certain SON's That go for more money or specific high values stamps that are SON with any cancel that tends to sell for higher?

Morris St Post Office had the luck to have a Post Master that sought to have exacting;y placed postmarks on his out-going mails. And Halifax is an international post on the Atlantic, on teh way to England and the continent.

Any other posts on teh Atlantic Ocean or close to, such as Trois Rivieresin Quebex or Montreal or Quebec perhaps would also have such a preponderence of nice cancels.

Any high traffic freight office would also, such as Torinto stations or Montreals railway stations or ports.

Puzzler

So are you saying that those high traffic offices would produce cancels people would pay more money for?
I figured the not so well known office cancels would have sold for more.

No, not exactly.

The precision of the hammer strikes is up to the Post Master or clerks at the time so you have to search for an office that had these persons there plus had a volume of postal traffic which included using ordinary stamps for mail within Canada but also stamps for registered or overseas or to the USA destinations.

The rarer the stamp used in the exact time periods with the better cancel and condition produces a premium price.

The fun is in the hunting down of such beauties and prying them away from collectors who already have them, darn it.