Particularly Nice Collection Coming Up For Auction This Monday

"Believe these are made up by the auctions houses"

I know several dealers who make up collections (really what they do is add to an existing collection)

And, given that auction houses are closed to the public for at least the next month, the "eyes" aren't possible. Not sure about the "manufactured" idea in this case. The logic would ordinarily be to strip out the high value stamps and sets and offer them individually.

I am familiar with this auction house. They are a general auction house, so it would be highly unlikely that they separate out the high value GB. General auction houses are quite bad at guessing stamp collection values, few have in-house or local talent to call on. £120 was their best guess. So far so good, it passes the test. They could also have been told to start with this estimate (see below)

Now we get to less firmer ground. The high value GB look too good, you would expect at least one of the top row to have an imperfection. Plus the nice clean cancels, the fresh appearance, I would not ever want to bid on these without inspection. To bid on these, on the presumption they are real, means you have a lot of money to gamble with.

One questions why a collector with, if genuine, over £15k of stamps, put them in a cheap album like this, particularly one who obviously has picked choice examples of each stamp, In seventeen years of trading this would be a first to me. Maybe the odd penny black and half way decent embossed, but this selection. No way, This, to me, is the equivalent of displaying a prized art collection in the gents toilet.

Lastly there are hinge remnants, and I do not care if you were a school boy collector, wouldn't these high value GB be the first to be removed.

So here is my best guess, this is a GOTCHA album. It has been salted with some genuine, medium value Commonwealth to give the appearance of reality. I would not be surprised that a lot of the GB are thinned.

If I was going to sell a GOTCHA album like this, then I would stick it in a remote Scottish auction house. If they tried this on a big auction house or a stamp auction house, it would not pass muster. The seller also gets anonymity. With no viewing he has only to wait for the gullible and dreamers to drive the price up.

Lastly, the original post said this auction was next Monday, it is next Tuesday

If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it probably is a duck

Indeed. What gave me pause on the concept of the untutored general auction house point was that, elsewhere in the sale, they've been perfectly capable of lotting individual stamps and sets. Which brings us back to your "planted" view.

According to the auctioneer's website, anyone with an account has access to the lot's condition report.

That would be interesting reading.

But in the midst of all the conspiracy theories, there' still a good chance this is just a great collection being sold off by a unsuspecting inheritor via a clueless auction house. Happens all the time.

I think theswedish raises some interesting points.

Up over 2000GBP now

"The logic would ordinarily be to strip out the high value stamps and sets and offer them individually."

In the case of a manufactured collection they salt in faulty/altered or forged high catalog value stamps to make it kook really good.

"One questions why a collector with, if genuine, over £15k of stamps, put them in a cheap album like this, particularly one who obviously has picked choice examples of each stamp"

While I have seen a complete set of Canadian Jubilees in a beginners style worldwide album that was the rare exception and this one is way too big of a gamble at L2000 without being able to see it in person.

My take on this lot is that it is already WAAAAAY overpriced for the online bidder. I agree with many who have said that this should only be bid up further by people who have been able to view the lot in person. As distant viewers, we can only speculate on the genuineness/soundness of this lot. And then to actually bet $$$ on it, unviewed, is simply reckless. The b***h of it is that there are plenty of reckless people out there that think they know something that the rest of us don't. All you need are 2x online idiot bidders and this lot sells for a significant portion of APPARENT CV. If it sells to an in-person viewer, then it comes down to that individual's viewing/estimating skills, and it 100% on him. If it sells to a remote bidder, than it sold for too much. (That's a big FAT period at the end of that sentence.) I just gotta wonder how many of the early Pound value GBs, and hi-value surcharge/overprints are out-and-out fakes, or photos from auction catalogs used to fill spaces. If it is already over priced, then the only ones to bid from now on are non-viewers and it could turn into a feeding frenzy. I would love to be a fly on the wall of the online winner when the package arrives and he opens it to find a few dozen fakes in spaces where he expects multi-£1000 stamps. And he can't blame the auction house. Windfall-of-a-lifetime for the consignor and the auction house. Too bad, so sad, but not for me.

To me, this is like a NASCAR race - we are all tuned in to see the horrific inevitable crash. At least that's why **I** watch NASCAR, and I am more than willing to admit it.

As long as we are all throwing out WAGs, it could be that several people have already met privately and decided on how much it is worth, who will bid on it, and who it will go to (history gives this speculation validity). There is no telling who has viewed this lot in person, sadly we may never know its real value and/or disposition.
Don

Ryan Newman - Daytona 500

I agree with previous posts. Despite everything there will be some punters out there willing to give it a go. My guess I'd £8k to £9k

I see the auctioneer has added the fact thathe £5 is watermarked. Folks have been asking!

It is just such an odd place for it to be auctioned even if it came out of a defaulted storage locker. Although with the current bidding frenzy I cannot see it doing better at a philatelic House.

I have no experience of auction agents, but presumably one of their competencies would be to advise on the quality of a collection? At least the basics -- are the stamps apparently real or clear fakes?

To me these look fine, but I'm not about to lay down £10K+ to buy them.
If I were going to bid, I'd either have it checked out by an agent or go there myself.
Montrose is not an easy place to get to, even at the best of times.

And my experience of little local auctions is that when they have this kind of material, you get at least 2-3 dealers turn up in person to bid on it.