What Was In This Sparks US Collection Lot That Fetched 7.5 Times Estimate?

The $26K USA lot: Can't say with certainty without close inspection, but a combination of quantity and many unused 19th century stamps with OG (or the appearance of OG) is my guess. The difference in value from "no gum/regummed" to "part original gum" to "OG lightly hinged" is quite steep for most 19th century US, and the photos online tell us nothing about the gum condition; that's something inspection might reveal that changes the game.

The Italian colonies lot: I was a bidder on that one, too; there were some nice items, but so many of the used in the lot were favor cancelled (or had outright fake cancels) IMO that I wasn't willing to go very high for it. A collection of similar completion with mostly authentic postal cancels (and certification for the best items) would go for substantially more than the C$1,050 hammer; genuinely used Italian colonies are difficult, much more difficult than mint.

It may be the winning bidder is thinking not of adding to his (reference) collection, but of Internet resale. Many of the sets in that collection could be listed on ebay tomorrow and sell for 10%-15%, perhaps more, of the used CV, favor/fake cancels notwithstanding. They're stamps most collectors don't see often but are eager to own.

The British Africa lot that went for C$4,200 had a similar situation: there were multiple 5/- and up values with fiscal cancels, or washed fiscal cancels. They look like very valuable stamps to inexperienced collectors and there are folks that take advantage of that and slap them on ebay (or sell at a show bourse!) as 'used' or 'uncancelled/unused NG' and attract bids in the hundreds of dollars. The existence of these high values in the collection, even though they aren't quite copacetic, pushes up the hammer price.

If no one viewed the lot in person than the opinions are just throwing darts in the dark. Is there value in this kind of speculation?
Don

@codehappy, I was eyeing that British Africa lot too, but when I saw how quickly it went up, didn't ever bother with a bid. But in all, pleased with my pickups.

No, but there is entertainment for those of us imagining getting a lot like this and finding a couple dozen never hinged original gum bank notes, rare grills, and high end material. As I said earlier, unless the winning bidder is a member here and decides to share what they saw (whether in person or requested more scans)we can only speculate.

Agreed - there is entertainment value here.

It is actually a pretty cool lot, price-aside, in spite of obvious condition issues.
The person who put it together spent a lot of time with this.

$26k + 17% BP of $4420.00 totals $30,420 without taxes. It will take a bit of work to break it down into managable lots and better items and realize any profit, if any? Only one person is going to know the answer when they do it. Good luck to them.

PS: I bet the seller is happy!

Interesting discussion by all. I started the topic thinking that maybe someone would see something special that prompted the spirited bidding. I thought at first that someone viewed the material in person and saw that special something but then I realized that it took at least another person bidding to get the price to where it ended up and unless they also saw that special something.....anyway, it all became too complex and I write the sales price off to two bidder bulls competing for the same cow and one of them waking up the next morning with a massive case of buyers remorse. This was nowhere near a 30k lot especially if you look at what 30k will buy for a collection in a Siegel auction.

Just off the cuff I see 65 - 70 unused banknotes. Just putting a retail value of $200 per unused banknote (which might be very conservative) that alone is half the cost. A hinged 162 alone cats for $2400 and a 163 cats $2250. So I wouldn't write this one off a losing money without the facts. It's quite possible a couple of bidders might have spent a few hours going through it in person taking meticulous notes. The dozen unused 65's cat $1000 without any of them having grills and a few have the shades that indicate grill. An unused E grill Scott 88 cats for $1000.

everyone is assuming the buyer is planning in flipping it

IF the banknotes actually are unused, and not just cleaned. It's an interesting speculation. As for flipping it, it's really not the kind of lot to buy for any other reason.

I think a great story here would be if the winning bidder actually bought it for the pure education value alone. This lot would create months of enjoyment.

It would not overly surprise me if the material started showing up on NYStamps ebay site.

"this lot would create months of enjoyment " can you picture a doctor or a lawyer who has a annual income over $250,000 spending $30,000 for "months of enjoyment " .Try telling them that they paid too much for that lot .

Not sure I understand your statement. I never said anyone spent too much on the lot. Nobody but the winner and under bidder knows why the hammer fell when it did. The auction house gave it a $3,500 estimate. Not sure what a person's occupation has to do with enjoying a lot like this. I just stated that it would be a fun lot to go through just based on the education you'd get going through the banknotes, W/F's, grills, etc.