News At Maresch
Marketplace for stamps and covers remains firm.
Our February auction sale confirmed that the stamp market is alive and well here in Toronto, and we achieved strong realizations for all specialized Canadian material starting with early classics right through to the scarce London-to-London semi-Official Airmail. Our bid sheets numbers were up once again, as was viewer participation before the auction, and the marketplace for stamps and covers remains firm.
View Prices Realised for the February Auction.
This auction sale contains even more large lots than our previous sale, as we have recently received several huge properties and estates as well as another 140 large cartons from the Bileski estate. Many of the large lots still contain better items scattered throughout, so we encourage careful viewing, and if you wish to view everything, leave yourself plenty of time. The first two sessions contain Canada from large lots, postal history, and Pence to back of the book, with several wholesale lots and good showings of Jubilees, Admiral Lathework, imperforates and modern varieties, etc. The third session contains Provinces, Great Britain and British Commonwealth and the fourth session contains good Foreign material with variety throughout and something for both collector and dealer alike. We are starting this sale on Wednesday evening, through to Friday afternoon, as we did last sale, so everyone will have an extra day of viewing earlier in the week.
The economy here in Canada is currently doing very well, in contrast to the economic difficulties occurring in some other countries. How long this situation will last is the topic of much debate, with opinions on both sides of the issue. We are fortunate to still be in a strong stamp market, which so far has not showed any signs of softening. As we have said before, the fact that the stamp market is mostly collector driven, gives it the stability to avoid being affected as greatly by drastic fluctuations in other parts of the economy. Nevertheless, the collector population seems to be ageing, which makes us wonder what the market will be like 10 or 20 years from now. In all honesty, we have heard concerns about where the next generation of collectors will come from, for over the past 20 to 30 years, and I am sure you will also see the same concerns raised in even older philatelic publications, but the idea of passing down a collection to one’s children is something that should be considered carefully. If they are collectors, then it is certainly a wonderful legacy to pass on, but if they are not, we urge you to consider the best way to pass on the most value to them, and perhaps if you have not been that active with your collection, selling in this strong market may be a good idea for you. On the other side of the coin, buyers will be able to fill in those elusive holes in their collection, as the demand for better philatelic material continues unabated.
December 2009London to London was a “find” in a large world-wide collection
It is wonderful to see the stamp market continuing to defy general economic trends and maintain a steady slightly upward price trend. Our October auction once again realized over 110% of our pre-sale estimate, and showed consistent strength throughout, setting several record prices. Viewing participation was also dramatically up from our previous sales, and we were sorely tested to allow everyone to view everything they wanted. Please note that, as a result of the increased demand, we will open our offices for extra viewing on Family Day, Monday, February 15th, to allow everyone ample time to view.
View Prices Realised for the October Auction.
This auction starts with two extensive sessions of Canada and Provinces, and contains a good solid selection of larger lots and collections, plenty of choice 19th century material with stamps, proofs and covers, better imperforates (complete Quebec issue), modern varieties, booklets, Airmails including a RARE semi-official London to London mint stamp, plus Scadta Airs, flight covers, Officials, Revenues, Newfoundland, etc. The third session is entirely Great Britain with several Penny Blacks, and larger collections, plus British Commonwealth with many larger lots and collections, country collections and many better individual rarities such as a St. Helena Tristan Relief set, Solomon Is. imperforate pair, etc. The sale ends with a huge section of foreign with shelves packed full of estates and intact consignments and better-than-usual sections of Austria, Germany and USA as well as individual rarities such as a Russian Offices in China inverted overprint, a rare US Coil line pair, etc. All in all, a well-rounded auction, with something for everyone.
Some of the above-mentioned rare stamps are examples of why selling at auction is always advantageous for the vendor. The London to London stamp was a “find” in a large world-wide collection, as were a couple of others. Availing yourself of our decades of philatelic experience, and the experts on our lotting staff, is your guarantee of success when selling your collection, whether it’s one you built up painstakingly over many years, or an inheritance. Please contact us to find out the advantages of including your collection in one of our auctions. We are only a phone call or email away, and we will do our best to make your consigning experience both an enjoyable and profitable one.
September 2009Prices Realised and Bidder Participation Continue to Exceed
We were very pleased with the June auction sale results. Both the bidder participation numbers and prices realized total of 109% of pre-sale estimate, continue to demonstrate that the stamp market in Canada has been unaffected by the past couple of years’ economic turmoil.
View Prices Realised for the June Auction
The current sale does not have as much classic Canada as we usually have, although there is a good showing of later 19th Century material including imperforates, etc. This is just how it works sometimes when you run unreserved public auction sales and rely solely on consignments for material. The positive side of this, as we have been saying in previous auction forewords, is that it shows there is no panicked ‘sell-off’ in the stamp market, as there has been in some other venues. It also makes a strong case for buying classic stamps when they do show up, as they are rarer than some might think, and are not always available when you are ready to buy. This brings to mind the request several years ago from a dealer just starting out, wanting to know where to get collectors names and a good wholesale stock of early stamps to sell them. He used to be in the grocery business, and was used to stocking-up on cases of soup, etc, whenever he needed them. The other side of this topic is that this sale does have a strong section of more modern varieties, which came in from a few different consignors, (some in duplication), as well as a good section of Booklets and Panes, Revenues, Provinces, etc. We will not be able to repeat these items every sale either, and items that have eluded you for years now showing up in duplication gives you the opportunity to place “either/or” bids to make sure you do win one of them.
This sale also contains good sections of Great Britain with several better Penny Blacks, early imperforates, high values, etc, British Commonwealth with several large collections and better individual sets plus in-depth Foreign material including a much better-than-usual section of USA.
We would also like to point out to our buyers that when we catalogue collections of Canada and Provinces, we do not include quality or never hinged premiums unless specifically so-stated. Our catalogue values for BNA sets, individual stamps, multiples, etc, do include such premiums. For British Commonwealth and Foreign collections, we do not use Scott never hinged prices, or premiums from the British or European catalogues.
We already have many nice collections and estates on hand for the winter auction, but we can always use many more, in order to make the auctions as wide and diverse as possible. We have thousands of eager buyers just waiting to purchase your stamps and covers. May we hear from you?
We are pleased to announce Charles William Maresch, born August 20, 2009 to Melanie and Peter Maresch. Our father hoped that some day we would enjoy the fruits of this great hobby, the same goes for Charles, the latest in a long line of Maresch’s, that will hopefully enjoy the many aspects that the world of philately have to offer.
May 2009Stamp Collecting - An Enticing Respite
Our February auction sale confirmed the continued strength of the stamp market, realizing 108.5% of pre-sale estimate. Bidding and viewing participation was up from our previous sales. It is worth repeating that the strength of the stamp market comes from collectors who take a lifetime (or at least many years) to build a collection, and that they do this because they enjoy the hobby. Hobbies are where many of us go to escape the pressures or stress of day-to-day life, and in these times, to many of us, working on our stamp collections has become an even more enticing temporary respite.
If you are interested in receiving prices realised for this sale, please feel free to visit our office to pick up a catalogue and prices realised. You can also subscribe to receive each and every catalogue. With each new catalogue we send out prices realised for the previous sale. The annual subscription price is nominal but well worth it since you will never miss a sale.
This upcoming June sale, once again, contains plenty of large lots and intact estates and collections for sale, as well as yet another portion of the Bileski estate, which we have been slowly dispersing for over a year now. While we have our usual in-depth offering of classic to modern Canada, the strength of the first half of this sale is in the many wonderfully well-centered Canadian and Newfoundland MINT BLOCKS OF FOUR, from the Small Queens to the 1930’s, a collection painstakingly built over many years. This section also contains many VARIETIES and ERRORS from early to modern, with many visually striking blocks. There are also exceptional SEMI-OFFICIAL AIRMAILS including some very specialized and seldom-seen items, as well as better REVENUES, and an extensive section of NEWFOUNDLAND. The end of the sale contains better Great Britain including 1d blacks and £ values, many fine individual sets of British Commonwealth as well as Jamaica stampless covers, and a large section of Foreign including some huge properties, rare Airmail issues, Zeppelin and Airship covers, better Germany, etc.
Throughout the sale are many choice showpiece items, sure to enhance your collection. Please take some time to examine our auction and if possible, make the effort to come in for public viewing. There is nothing more frustrating than only discovering such lots after the sale is over.
