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Good Hope Cape stamps highlighted by 44.4% increase
The Franschhoek Collection of Cape of Good Hope stamps saw strong results on June 20
Paul Fraser Collectibles, Thursday 21 June 2012
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The Franschhoek Collection of Cape of Good Hope stamps saw strong results yesterday (June 20), in a dedicated UK sale.
The first postage stamps to be issued in the Cape of Good Hope came in 1853, when the province was still a British colony. Initially, just two denominations of the unusual triangular stamp were issued, a one penny in red and a four pence stamp in blue.
A newspaper cover bearing an important date starred
The Franschhoek Collection was topped by a later, yet extremely rare four pence black from the province, one of only thirteen recorded examples. Boasting large margins, the attractive example sold for £26,000 ($40,813), against an estimate of £15,000-18,000, displaying an impressive increase of 44.4%.
A spectacular cover, which featured the coveted 1861 woodblock issue, was also a major highlight. The woodblock issue was created when a shortage of stamps in the Cape caused local printers Saul Solomon & Co to be hired to produce a new supply using their own, more basic processes.
In this example, the 1861 one penny stamp was affixed to a February 28 copy of the Cape Argus newspaper. February 28 marked the first day of issue for the woodblock stamps, which spurred the final sale price to £25,000, 25% above the high estimate of £20,000.
With the highly respected SG100 Index reporting returns of 5.54% pa for the 100 leading examples, high-end stamps are now proving a safer investment than the Dow Jones Index, whose returns over the same 1998-2012 period stand at just 4.52% pa.
Paul Fraser Collectibles currently has a superb range of investment-grade rarities on offer to our customers. This example, known as the Black Empress, is one of the rarest and most exceptional stamps in Canadian philately.
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