Kelleher Auction This Week

The Kelleher auction was a bit of a fustercluck this week, with bad weather in New England causing widespread power and Internet outages. They had to push back their sessions by a day or so and then try to make up the time as they went, which made it somewhat difficult to predict when you needed to be in front of your computer.

Sitting in some sessions throughout the week, I noticed a fairly large number of passed lots, and a large number going at or below estimates.

Revenue results were all over the map.

Some revenue lots of interest, in no particular order:

#3481. R6e. This went for quite a bit more than I expected it to, at $1,062 including juice.

#3483. R13a. Hopefully the buyer put it on extension.

#3485. R15e. $2,360 including juice, which is VERY strong money for an uncerted example. The buyer smartly put it on extension to the PF. If the cancel date is actually 1869, that's a bit of a red flag, as virtually all genuine examples are dated 1866. This stamp is #9 in my census, sold by Siegel in 2001 without cert.

#3486. R16d. Very strong money at $708 vs. SCV of $200, but a gorgeous stamp!

#3492. R37a. As bogus as the day is long. Wrong color, late state cancel, small margins. Ick.

#3494. R43a. Don't like it. I bet it's a trimmed R43b.

#3497. R60b. Very scarce stamp if legit (more on that in another post). I don't like it though. Color is wrong for a part perf and it's an 1865 cancel. Hopefully the buyer put it on extension.

#3505. R83a. I was actually considering bidding on this as a flipper at the opening bid of $375, but it quickly went north to the extent that all the headroom was gone. Despite the crease into internal tear, it's unquestionably legit and not a bad looker overall.

#3526. R115a. Very nice multiple but buyer paid full freight after juice. Might be worth it though.

#3568. RB10a. Not a bad looking stamp for the money.

I ended up getting 2 lots, one being the primary reason for bidding, so I'm content.

I was the direct underbidder on the R115a pair at $750 hammer. I couldn't see going another increment to $850 hammer.
I think someone got a good deal on the R132. It was creased, but pretty fresh looking for 2,900 hammer.

The 2 proprietary roulettes. 3569 & 3570. What's your opinion Dan?

(No, I didn't bid on either one).

Not back of book, but I won a US #315 with cert, $1 Columbian mint, and #86 used, and was delighted to do so. The market for classics appears robust.

I am watching the Harmer auction right now and lot after lot after lot is being passed.

Three major auctions today dealing in similar material. I know these auction houses run their own business irrespective of others, but bidding likely would have been better for these auction houses if prospective bidders didn't have to divide their attention. For example, there are others lots I have been interested in, but I already exceeded my planned quota for today. You would think they would coordinate auctions a little better.

I am horrendously bad at differentiating legitimate proprietary roulettes from fake. If there were a class on this, I would sign up in a heartbeat.

The buyer of the RB18c put it on extension to the PF, which is definitely the way to do it. Buy on extension, with a cert, as a multiple (much easier said than done), or from a reputable, knowledgeable source.

My RB13c is a pair. My RB16c I bought from Richard Friedberg, is signed by George Sloane and John A. Fox, and subsequently got a godd PF cert. My RB17c is a pair, and my RB18c was purchased with a (then) current PF cert.

Another difficult area is gauging the color of RB17c vs. RB18c. There are many RB17c that are more violet than blue. It's like the RB "intermediate paper" that looks green (ish) but is classified as violet. You really have to have examples of the 3 sitting in front of you to compare side by side.

Dan, how can you tell he placed the stamp on extension?

Four actually, if you include Rasdale.

In all fairness, Kelleher wasn't supposed to have any sessions today. It's only because of the weather that they did.

For me personally, there was only really material of interest in the Kelleher auction. Harmer was mostly group lots. Aldrich is rife with bogus lots and for those that are legit the opening bids are already at full retail... no bargains to be had at all. Rasdale didn't have anything that tripped my trigger either.

For those that I mention the items were put on extension, it's because it was mentioned from the podium while I was listening to the session.

Nice items in the Kelleher sale mostly sold and sold for pretty decent prices.

That was quite a holding of Scott #65 on and off cover in this sale.
The quantity probably flooded the market a bit there, so I'm not surprised by some of those lots getting passed. They will find homes in due time.

The Harmer sale seemed a bit thinner on the number of bidders. As usual, some of the legitimately nicer items did sell well.

Antitrust law likely prohibits this. It could be a form of price fixing as it theoretically could result in higher prices in each auction, as opposed to the present situation in which multiple auctions were scheduled at the same time apparently without communication. Ultimately it's better (in antitrust theory) for consumers to have auctions in competition. Since multiple stamp auction houses have been sued by the US government for price fixing in the past (based on different facts), they're all likely gun-shy about any form of cooperation, and properly so.

It was as if nobody showed up for the Harmer sale. I picked up several large lots that I had looked at but figured would attract stiffish competition based upon past experience. Nobody else bid and I purchased them at the opening price. Auctions can be hard to figure. It was a great day to be a buyer.

Anyone have a opinion on lot 3489 the R26d, silk paper. Passed on it but wanted to known what others thoight.

At first glance it doesn't look bright/vibrant enough to be a silk, i.e., the color seems more indicative of an early printing, but realistically you can't tell much from that image. R26d is one of the few 1st issue silks I still need.

3569 & 3570 are both fakes. So are several Dan mentioned.