Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
Having focused on DWI for about 30 years, being able to see this material was a real treat!
As I have mentioned in another post, I don’t really collect postal history, preferring to focus on the stamps, varieties, and cancels, so I don’t have a strong sense of the postal history “market” for DWI. When it comes to the stamps, however, I have a pretty good feel for it. There aren’t any “crazy expensive” DWI stamps, but there are certainly a few that are much tougher to find than others. I’ll post pics and details of the item I was interested in once I receive it.
Having not done anything with stamps for most of the year, I was checking out various sites and dealers in early October. Came across the Spink auction on Philasearch and saw listings for the stamp I have been looking for. I hadn’t been that excited for a stamp in a long, long time!
Going into the live (online, in my case) bidding, there was “good news” and “bad news” for me.
The “good news” was that the lot I wanted was closer to the end of the Danish West Indies section, so there may be chance that other bidders would “spend their money early” as there were so many great lots leading up to this one.
The “bad news” was that the Caroe collection was going to draw a lot of attention, and the stamp I wanted is missing from most DWI collections. With only 350 copies of the frame variety with the particular overprint produced, it is hard to come by, and I’ve only seen cancelled copies at auction a few times. This auction featured 3 cancelled copies, a single, a pair with normal/inverted frames, and a copy on cover.
When the auction got close to the DWI section I prepared myself to see some eye-popping hammers. Lot after lot of stamps were selling at levels below what I expected, which was very surprising given the that this was a “known” collection being offered by a fine house. Hmmm…
The hammers keep coming and the prices were still nowhere near my expectations, and I started to wonder if I’d be able to pick up the stamp at a modest level. “My” lot was coming up in a bit, and still hammers were low – now I’m getting a bit excited. Then it opens, and the bidding was fairly weak. I held off bidding until the “warning” and upped the ante, and the bidding methodically continued to increase, typically with a bid being made at the warning. This went on for a bit and I placed another bid to take the lead, and was ready to bid again if topped at the warning -- and it was over. I won! Then the pair opened, and I acquired it for less than the single! Absolutely could not believe that I won two examples of a stamp after decades of searching and failed bids. I also picked up a couple of other items at prices I was more than happy with. The total of the purchases was less than what I had expected to pay for the single stamp.
Later that evening I was trying to make sense of it all. Has the market for DWI stamps tanked? Were there few bidders for the stamps? Both? I can understand if the market is soft, I’ve never felt that DWI was a hot “stamp area” but this was a “name auction” that should’ve attracted a lot of attention.
Over the weekend I looked through the lots again and concluded that:
I don’t think the way the material was marketed and lotted favored the Caroe family.
The quantity and breadth of scarce stamps offered in one auction for such a small collecting area depressed the prices. Having worked at an auction house (back in my college days), I can’t believe the house would have done this unless instructed by the owner or estate to simply “sell it all.” Perhaps this is what happened. If this was the case, then I believe that…
Far too many copies of scarce stamps were sold in various “groupings” that (to me) didn’t make sense if the idea was to extract as much value as possible (even with the additional lotting/catalogue expense).
There were many happy buyers adding to their collections/exhibits!
Yes, there is a certain cachet in selling one’s collection in a “name auction,” but I believe it cost the family in the end. I’ve seen less extensive holdings from well-known collections spread out over several auctions, and the prices realized were “in line.” I didn’t take the time to check out the other areas offered (I also collect Faroes and Denmark), but DWI stamps was a flop. Happy with my purchases, though!!
Again, there will be some updates and edits shortly…
Moderators: Please move this to an appropriate area if need be. Thanks!
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I recently participated in the Spink’s auction of “The Caroe Family Collection of Cameroons, Faroe Islands, Denmark, and Danish West Indies.” In a word, WOW!
Having focused on DWI for about 30 years, being able to see this material was a real treat!
As I have mentioned in another post, I don’t really collect postal history, preferring to focus on the stamps, varieties, and cancels, so I don’t have a strong sense of the postal history “market” for DWI. When it comes to the stamps, however, I have a pretty good feel for it. There aren’t any “crazy expensive” DWI stamps, but there are certainly a few that are much tougher to find than others. I’ll post pics and details of the item I was interested in once I receive it.
Having not done anything with stamps for most of the year, I was checking out various sites and dealers in early October. Came across the Spink auction on Philasearch and saw listings for the stamp I have been looking for. I hadn’t been that excited for a stamp in a long, long time!
Going into the live (online, in my case) bidding, there was “good news” and “bad news” for me.
The “good news” was that the lot I wanted was closer to the end of the Danish West Indies section, so there may be chance that other bidders would “spend their money early” as there were so many great lots leading up to this one.
The “bad news” was that the Caroe collection was going to draw a lot of attention, and the stamp I wanted is missing from most DWI collections. With only 350 copies of the frame variety with the particular overprint produced, it is hard to come by, and I’ve only seen cancelled copies at auction a few times. This auction featured 3 cancelled copies, a single, a pair with normal/inverted frames, and a copy on cover.
When the auction got close to the DWI section I prepared myself to see some eye-popping hammers. Lot after lot of stamps were selling at levels below what I expected, which was very surprising given the that this was a “known” collection being offered by a fine house. Hmmm…
The hammers keep coming and the prices were still nowhere near my expectations, and I started to wonder if I’d be able to pick up the stamp at a modest level. “My” lot was coming up in a bit, and still hammers were low – now I’m getting a bit excited. Then it opens, and the bidding was fairly weak. I held off bidding until the “warning” and upped the ante, and the bidding methodically continued to increase, typically with a bid being made at the warning. This went on for a bit and I placed another bid to take the lead, and was ready to bid again if topped at the warning -- and it was over. I won! Then the pair opened, and I acquired it for less than the single! Absolutely could not believe that I won two examples of a stamp after decades of searching and failed bids. I also picked up a couple of other items at prices I was more than happy with. The total of the purchases was less than what I had expected to pay for the single stamp.
Later that evening I was trying to make sense of it all. Has the market for DWI stamps tanked? Were there few bidders for the stamps? Both? I can understand if the market is soft, I’ve never felt that DWI was a hot “stamp area” but this was a “name auction” that should’ve attracted a lot of attention.
Over the weekend I looked through the lots again and concluded that:
I don’t think the way the material was marketed and lotted favored the Caroe family.
The quantity and breadth of scarce stamps offered in one auction for such a small collecting area depressed the prices. Having worked at an auction house (back in my college days), I can’t believe the house would have done this unless instructed by the owner or estate to simply “sell it all.” Perhaps this is what happened. If this was the case, then I believe that…
Far too many copies of scarce stamps were sold in various “groupings” that (to me) didn’t make sense if the idea was to extract as much value as possible (even with the additional lotting/catalogue expense).
There were many happy buyers adding to their collections/exhibits!
Yes, there is a certain cachet in selling one’s collection in a “name auction,” but I believe it cost the family in the end. I’ve seen less extensive holdings from well-known collections spread out over several auctions, and the prices realized were “in line.” I didn’t take the time to check out the other areas offered (I also collect Faroes and Denmark), but DWI stamps was a flop. Happy with my purchases, though!!
Again, there will be some updates and edits shortly…
Moderators: Please move this to an appropriate area if need be. Thanks!
3 Members
like this post.
Login to Like.