Help With Iran (Persia) Scott #227 And #654-660

Without including the story of how, I (we) have certified (by a top Iran expert)really beautiful condition Iran (Persia) single and a set with a catalog value north of $3700. The certs were obtained during the pandemic, said to show they are recent.

What is the best location, read auction, or individual dealer to sell these two early sets? No one in the club has a clue.

Second question, why are you recommending that firm or person?

Also with a cert is a pair of #70 which only cats at $30 each and they would go along for the sale ride.

Yes, as would be expected, we also have a huge pile of Iran (Persia) forgeries.

Can we see the Cert's ,how are they written .

Notice----To beginners here ------just because you got a Cert. that doesn't mean a thing unless it is a GOOD cert. Certificates can say the cancel is bad , there are hidden repairs , those are reprints , design is cut into so a cert . is not a guarentee ,you have to read it .

This is not a thread about the stamps, the certs, how to write certs nor how to read certs but where to sell high quality high catalog Iran non-forgery stamps.

We, the club, an APS club, part of the WESTPEX region, in existence for over 50 years, did all the time consuming legwork (well contact and mailing) to have Iran/Persia expert(s) go through our pile of early Iran/Persia to sort the few valid from the many forgeries. Then for the several with high value, much to our surprise, certificates were rendered by that specialist certification authority. Hey, it was the pandemic, folks were bored and we could not hold meetings anyway.

So if only by reading the cert can you know where to sell, let me tell you, there is not a recommended seller listed on the cert. So, sadly I trust you have no idea where these should be offered. We don't either, including our professional dealer member who deals in the world out of a retail shop.

See below for the only photographic information you will get about the stamps and certificate:

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No, there was no posting problem, the above space is blank.

I will say, we as a club, buy holdings of material which is then lotted and sold at auction each meeting with a club break-even start price. We do this separately for US and the world. We have a maximum of 50 lots per meeting. The last world wide purchase was a $5000 "monster box" which we have been working through. On the US side anything can show up, including dollar and two dollar denomination Trans-Mississippi series (yes the 1898 ) We do not offer flawed stamps in the auction--well a recent exception was an 1869 special printing.

So no one collects early Iran/Persia; hence the reason for the thread.
We have one hope with the brother in law of a member who does collect stamps, French and Iran both of which he has visited many times. The Iran visits related to his profession and his Naturalized US Citizen, Iranian born wife. He's a semi-retired high powered immigration attorney specializing in Iranians. However, that early Iran/Persia may not fit his interest.

Now I am off to hoist a beer to uncle Martin Dahl, Arlington and the son a friend lost in Iraq. Today is their day.

Persiphila auctions?

That group is even headquartered in California.

PARCEL ---- Thanks for your respond to my posting ----I got the answer I was looking for .

I would use a firm like Cherrystone Auctions and not a small club auction like was suggested with Persiphila auctions . But then again they will ask the same question ,I did, can we see the certificate .

The people here always like to see pictures of what is being discussed so I took a few scans from my collections .

You might also consider a European auction house (Germany, UK, Austria, etc). They may have greater exposure to collectors of Persia/Iran, and they most certainly will have fewer restrictions on dealing with Iranian citizens.

Persiphila isn't a small club auction, it's a dealer site from likely the best Iran expert in the US. Contact Mehrdad and ask him who would be the best auction house for your material.

Exactly this. Mr. Sadri is the foremost expert in Iran in the U.S. He is very approachable and helpful. He is THE go to party for expertizing Iranian material.

WAIT -A- MINUTE ....You got me laughing ,your telling a inexperence auction consignor to consign his possible real stamps to a stamp auction place that has a group of dealers who would be bidding on his stuff .....Yea right ,we all know, how that is going to turn out ........history about this happening has already been written .

I prefer he deal with a well known company that is having a public auction and has a much much bigger active clientel .


Go ask the F.B.I. about dealers or professional stamp buyers rig buying at auction from inexperience consignors .

Mr. Sadri works with David Feldman, Geneva, on important auctions of Persian/Iranian philatelic materials. Feldman has an upcoming auction with some amazing Persian rarities and has a long and strong track record selling Persian material. Check Feldman out.

Floortrader: how about helping out some of us less knowledgeable collectors to distinguish your page of reprints from the original issued stamps. I have a lot of Persian stamps but frankly have no clear idea whether they are the originals, reprints or forgeries.

FUNCITY -----I am not a specialist nor do I have the literature for a discussion on Iran stamps . The PERSIPHILA site is your best bet without buying their books on the subject .

First, thank you all for your comments and input. I welcome it all, helpful or not as an enjoyable read.





Ah, no. See below. Also running a specialized auction for years and a general one for a bit too should count for some experience.






Been there, done that; got the certificates and a pile of forgeries as mentioned previously.

As to suggestions re selling, has been traveling and out of contact.




See above.



I know the firm as I was asked by them to consign some foreign (not-USA) better postal stationary to them and I did.


Excellent point.


Maybe, but no Iran/Persia in "Gallery of Gems" nor name specialty sales covering the area.

The non-real is so common in this area we at the club joke that the Scott Catalog prices are for the forgeries. Plus, I would rather repeatedly bang on my thumb pounding nails with a hammer than get into the middle of a discussion sorting Persia/Iran real from fakes. I would, however, enjoy reading the conversation derived from a Floortrader response.


Thank you all for the suggestions so far. I would welcome more. It seems non-US companies may be the way to go considering the current status of the country of origin. Will much easier if the brother in law just buys 'em.

The upcoming Feldman auction of Persia incl. the Joe Youssefi collection (Part III):

https://oldbid.com/auctions/egypt-a...=auctionLots

Joe had some amazing material. I met him at PIPEX a few years ago (2018) where Joe got the Grand with one of his exhibits.