Our partners at JC Auctions are holding the second part of their Crown & Dragon sales.
The Crown refers to Great Britain, British Empire and British Commonwealth stamps. And we’ll look at some of those in another blog.
The Dragon is China.
And two stamps from the Chinese collections for sale here really stand out.
This is the first.
New name in stamp auctions
The first sale, in October, saw some stamps sold for prices well over their estimates.
But, with low reserve prices promised for stamps, many of which haven’t been on the market for years, this is also an opportunity to find value.
Mike Hall, the auctioneer for the sale, next Wednesday, December 10, chose this stamp as one of two Chinese gems to spotlight.
1 - China 1980 Year of the Monkey 8f, fresh unmounted mint lower marginal vertical pair of China's most revered stamp, SG2968
Lot number 397
Estimate: £1,500 - £2,000
Opening Bid : £900
Anyone with any interest in Chinese stamps knows this one.
And, lots of people with very little interest in stamps love it.
And, that’s what’s made it the most popular of all China stamps for collectors.
The design doesn’t need any explanation. The charm of this work by artist Huang Yongyu jumps off the paper and screen.
It’s simply a beautiful thing to own.
In the Chinese zodiac, the monkey is smart, resourceful, a bit cheeky, and promises good fortune.
Is this Yiwo? A picture of Huang at home with pets. A real monkey's death is said to have inspired the stamp's striking and heartfelt image.
Add to that the lovely red shade that is considered a lucky charm in China too. And the 8f value, a lucky number in Chinese culture, and you have a triple threat lucky charm.
This made the stamp a magnet for non-specialist buyers and many were given as birth or baptismal presents.
If you were born in a monkey year (1944, 1956, 1968, 1980, 1992, 2004, 2016, and coming up again in 2028) you would love one of these.
Huang Yongyu, pictured around the time of his final exhibition, is a substantial figure in a number of fields in Chinese culture including ceramics, architecture, and poetry, as well as his painting.
A miniature work of art
They’re also a distinguished Chinese cultural production.
Artist Huang Yongyu, who died in 2023 aged 98, had a long and distinguished career in the arts in China.
His fine-art work has realised excellent prices at auctions, won an Olympic gold medal, and collected numerous international awards.
There’s even a heart-melting story to the stamp, which was said to be inspired by Yiwo, a monkey who lived with the painter and his wife.
An owl painting by Huang Yongyu that made around £33,000 in a Hong Kong auction in 2012. Image courtesy of Christie's.
Huang’s nature paintings are really beautiful, and this one was done to commemorate Yiwo’s passing. The painter reportedly said he wanted the whole world to know how adorable Yiwo was.
Huang Yongyu designed a number of other stamps too, including another Year of the Monkey issue from 2016.
His work is a wonderful focus or starting point for a stand-alone collection within Chinese philately.
Shao Bolin, who also died in 2023, was the co-designer who brought Huang into the project.
China Daily memorialized him as a “legend in design” who was behind more than 100 stamps.
They came together to make this the first People’s Republic of China New Year stamp. Their release is now a highly anticipated annual ritual for China’s many stamp collectors.
Shao Bolin at a 2020 retrospective exhibition of his work, including the legendary stamp. Image by Jiang Dong at China Daily.
All of this has made the stamp a real oddity - a mass-produced modern issue that is by no means rare (nearly 5 million were printed), but has inspired such demand that it enjoys considerable value.
Within a few years it was trading for many multiples of its face value and had a catalogue value that’s really unusual for a non-error modern stamp.
In 2011 two sheets sold for over £100,000 each in Hong Kong.
This example is distinguished as a fresh unmounted mint lower marginal vertical pair, with full clean original gum.
How to buy this Year of the Monkey 1980 pair
The Crown & Dragon Auction II is open for pre-sale bidding now.
Bidding is simple once you have registered and you can watch the auction live as it happens.
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