Particularly Nice Collection Coming Up For Auction This Monday

This was posted in another forum and thought some folks here might like to see this nice, clean collection

https://www.taylors-auctions.com/auction/lot/2054

Don

Somehow I think they will be able to eek out a tad more than their estimate.

Bidding currently at £950. Some way to go there.

I think the £80-120 estimate is a bit conservative.

Geoff, where does it show current bid? Curious to watch.

I found it via the link to The Saleroom on the auctioneer' site

https://www.the-saleroom.com/en-gb/...ac60009f21d8

Ahh thanks. The actual auction website photos are impossible to view on mobile. I wonder if those British are authentic. Would fill a lot of my album holes but the 35%+ buyer fees and shipping adds quite a lot.

Gosh - didn't see the premium. That's 15% more than most. I suspect it reflects the fact that the seller's fee can't be hiked much more because of the scope to shift to ebay, but it's a big disincentive.

You'd really want to see these in the flesh - impossible here from yesterday - or have rather better photos to risk bidding serious money, I think.

Yep agreed. Some nice stuff... if the condition and authenticity is there. The super super super low estimation also sort of makes one second guess for a second.

As a buyer, I would be extremely reluctant to use an auction firm that adds a 35% buyer's fee. Will definitely suppress the hammer prices.

A lot of those stamps look fake to me. It looks like a "fantasy" collection.

FYI - from their website it is only about 28.5%
Buyer's Premium:
This calculated at 24% of the hammer price, plus VAT on the premium at the current rate, where appropriate. This will be charged on the hammer price of each lot purchased. This currently works out at an additional 28.8% Premium on each lot.

Interesting lot, thank you for posting.

In deference to the vendor and auction house, for me it's premature to comment before seeing the material first-hand.

But...the following unanswered questions come to my mind when viewing scans. Asking myself such questions leads me to refining my opinion on value. Perhaps other readers care to share theirs.

1) Why are some countries, e.g. Canada, heavily picked even down to stamps worth a few dollars while others like the early GB are untouched?

2) When much of the remaining value can be attributed to overprints and nice cancels, how confident are you in your ability to distinguish real from fake?

3) Why is the estimate, as a percent of CV, so low? Is it conservatism due to the foxing on many pages, or additional factors?

4) Why would vendor/auctioneer not further break down the material, for example extract the high-value shilling and pound GB values as single lots, given that the collection is obviously picked?

5) Why is there little foxing on some pages and heavy foxing on others? Was material added in recent years?

ARCHERG ----You bring up some very valid points .

I have used the words "Manufactured Lots " before ,so some of your points would confirm or question if this is a lot made up just for a auction .I seen this over the years even at some of the major firms. Not sure if it is done by the firm itself or they have professional consignors who work thru the auction house .

I think the same thing as Floortrader except I call them "manufactured collections." Believe these are made up by the auctions houses.

I'll add some more food for thought (or fuel to the fire):

Why no annotation on pages? Usually auctions have an expert mark out items of value, or tally a rough CV in margins. It's not a rare album, nor are the pages pristine. Did you also note the old hinges and glue marks on which stamps have been mounted, indicating reuse of pages?

It could be quite a valuable holding, they turn up, but I would echo the comment that you must have real eyes on it to evaluate.