Regency Stamp Auctions In St. Louis

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Honesty, moral character and fairness is being practiced less and less these days.

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...it will either be a puff piece or a 2-3 sentence mention.

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Two letters in this week's Letters to Linn's point out the heartbreaking impact the closing of Regency-Superior Auctions has had not only on the auction house's owners, David and Penney Kols, but also on collectors who consigned material to the company's auctions.

The closing has been devastating to some collectors who consigned stamps that ultimately were sold by Regency-Superior but for which the consignor received no payment.

A reader sent to Linn's an email that he received from the Kols' attorney, David M. Dare of Herren, Dare & Streett in St. Louis, Mo. In the email, Dare states, "Regency has ceased operations and does not have any assets. Their senior secured lender has taken possession of all of its collateral and is liquidating all of the assets to pay down Regency's debt to that bank.

"The most likely scenario is that the senior secured lender will take a substantial, million dollar plus, loss on its loan to Regency. There are other lenders with a security interest in the assets of Regency who will probably receive nothing. …"

The unfortunate consignors likely spent many years of their lives building treasured collections. They consigned the collections to a respected auction house, with the expectation to receive fair compensation for the items that were sold. Instead, their stamps have gone on to new owners who paid for their purchases, and the consignors are left with nothing.

It is a tragic set of circumstances for the Kols family, who are struggling with David's ongoing health problems, but also for collectors who consigned their prize possessions and received nothing in return.

Linn's will continue to follow this story, but bankruptcy proceedings can last for many years, and the consignors whose stamps were sold will likely never be made whole.

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I hesitated writing this email, but ultimately I felt I had to say something. I mean no disrespect, but in my opinion your commentary in the newest Linn's is either misguided or poorly written.

There is an implication that David Kols is somehow an innocent bystander in all of this who was as much (or more so ) a victim as his consignors, when in fact it was his business practices that ultimately caused this mess to begin with.

The reckless (and possibly criminal) actions that began long before the health problems ensued cannot now be justified or condoned just because he is currently in poor health.

I have read reactions of two other philatelists since this morning's release, and their reaction mirrors my own.

I realize that one doesn't want to "pile on" someone who is experiencing major health issues, but one cannot whitewash events in an effort to make things easier on a tragic figure when it is their very behavior that is at question.

In my opinion, if not criticizing David Kols due to his health problems was so important, I think it would have been better to say nothing at all publicly than what was actually said. Categorizing David Kols as just another victim in this situation actually does a disservice to the people who were legitimately harmed by his business practices and the manner in which the business was terminated.

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They have this right unless it is an actual trust account, which I am sure it is not.