Philatelic Rarities. Rare Postage Stamps and Stamp Collector Investments

This page features worldwide rare, unusual, and one-of-a-kind items of special interest. It is one of Australia's MOST visited stamp dealer web pages. Check EVERY day, as you can see - new items are regularly added and the sold ones removed. Many large dealers buy from here regularly.

So that I can show you the items in great detail in high resolution, some of the images may take a minute or three to load up if you have slow dial-up connection. I apologize for this, but it's worth waiting for!

A note about payment on these: Yes, these lots are expensive, but
"Lay-By" is available; E-mail, Phone, or Fax me to discuss it. I do NOT rip you off like auctions and add 15-20% to my prices. A $1,000 stamp is $1,000 - not $1,200.

For the Order Form, click here. To read instructions on ordering, click here.

Every credit card shown is accepted WITHOUT fee. Earn Frequent Flier points
while buying at bargain prices! ALL prices are in weak Ozzie Dollars.
I charge NO nasty, nasty "Buyer's Commission" on stamps
like nearly every "Auction" does.

LIMITED OFFER � SG 1840-1952 Commonwealth Cats at near HALF retail : I have a VERY limited quantity of these (109th, 2007 edition!) catalogues available at a VERY special price.

Normal retail: $180 - my price $99 plus shipping

These are the real thing, brand new in perfect condition! For the first time a LOT of plate flaws in photos, and prices them - see sample page of those here � www.stampboards.com/viewtopic.php?p=148670.

With 412 pages, full colour scans and the expertise/experience of Stanley Gibbons it is no wonder that this continues to be THE catalogue of choice for collectors of this period. HARD covers .. a REAL Cat - like the OLD SG were, but now in COLOUR and on bright white paper.

If you do not collect modern QE2 Guyana, Samoa, Nauru and Botswana etc that means you need pay $700 for a 5 vol WORLD set, this is for you! $A99

Surprise end year issue � QANTAS $2 Airbus A380 stamp totally **IMPERFORATE** block of 4:   On November 25 Australia Post released just 750 x IMPERFORATE panes of 12 mini sheets of 4 x $2 stamps. You needed to phone a special '800' number after midday, and maximum order was a sheet a person, and they sold out within hours as you'd expect.   All the $2 stamps depict the massive new Qantas Airbus A380.

Each sheet is foil numbered in lower right margin, and also comes with a hand numbered PO card of guarantee that only 750 panes in TOTAL were sold including all left and right panes, as AP offered with Architecture imperfs - although they were done in a much larger 5000 run � but are still much sought after.

Indeed there were only 375 left pane and 375 x right pane ... both panes of 12 sheets are marked thus lower left.   This is a Qantas Airbus A380 issue and that is a red hot theme, even for non stamp collectors. And it is imperforate. It is an 100% OFFICIAL PO issue, and one of the smallest in the post war era.   It is limited, and will be RED hot - just like the stamp border colour! I obtained a few by paying folks $100 to sit on the phone for hours re-dialling until they got through! Price per IMPERF pane is from $35 � full details here � with a LOT more photos of all the options and choices on these - www.stampboards.com/viewtopic.php?p=401608 - $A35

New Zealand 1855 2d blue Chalon on BLUED paper - NO Watermark: Fine used imperforate strip of 3, from the corner of the sheet. Unusually light cancels. Has double lined letters paper-maker's watermark along the top edge - see note in SG covering this, and proving these are SG 5. clean ands fresh, and a large multiple of this is clearly worth a premium. SG #5 �900 = $A2,250. Just 17�% of cat! $A400

South Australia 1855 first issue 6d imperf on neat cover to UK: A pretty cover with a nice 6d imperf, cancelled with barred diamond cancel "23" of Salisbury to "Penns, Nr Birmingham". Quite early use as stamp only issued October 26, 1855. Attractive 6d - 4 good margins except just touched lower left. Lovely sharp clear "proving' strike to left of "Salisbury FE 12 :1856". Also on face manuscript "8" and nice strike of the vermilion "3d". On reverse a weak Adelaide May 12, and a vermilion "Adelaide FE 13 1856". Also on reverse a GREEN "Birmingham MY 5 1856" arrival. A few little blemishes consistent with being over 150 years old. SG #3, Cat �480 on cover = $A1200. UNDER 25% of Cat - $A275

Kangaroo 1913 2�d First Watermark Large �OS� : The rarest value of the set, right up to the 5/-. Many on the market are recent ebay inspired fakes, so buying from an original collection, and from an established dealer, will certainly repay when YOU sell!   Experts can tell from the perfin holes which are genuine. Both stamps are MUH original gum � guaranteed. The right hand stamp has a light vertical band of �tanned� gum from being in the mount as you can see. Genuine MUH are rare beasts. Juzwin $750 a stamp = $1500. Better than usual perfs and centering.   The Gov�t printer directed that very badly centred stamps be put aside for �Official� use. Perfs on ALL 1^st wmk stamps are likely to be pulled or short. $A800

Australian Bicentenary - Leather boxed set of 25 Gold Stamp Ingots - $1500 under cost!!   Cost $2,465 -- copy of cost is attached. A collection of 25 different Australia and State classic stamps, struck in solid silver, and plated with 24 carat gold known as �The Australian Collection�. Fully endorsed and recommend by Australia Post - their letter enclosed to that effect. Comes with Certificate of Authenticity, and in a handmade green soft quilted, handmade leather Presentation Case, with gold embossing and highlights.

All the ingots are in perfect, as issued, condition - still in original hard plastic shipping packets even! The leather box is also in great shape. Many sets I have seen have had scratched and tatty ingots, and badly knocked about and scratched and torn/scuffed boxes. Most sets are missing the brass key. This one is "as new" - truly.   And as such worth TWICE what some in the market should fetch. A ton more info and photos are here - www.stampboards.com/viewtopic.php?t=9713 � more than $1,000 UNDER the price he paid! $A965

South Australia 1908 "Great White Fleet" Official Postcard: The rare 1d red. Pristine mint.   For 100 years old, in unbelievable condition. Been in Scotland for near all that time. The Vic and NSW are often seen, indeed even the WA ones are not uncommon, but these SA ones are the key. (Have an equally superb 1�d Victoria Fleet card for $A200.) $A400

AITUTAKI - 1920 Pictorials - 2 x IMPERFORATE PAIRS: Superb looking pair of these Perkins Bacon recess printed classics, in MUH original gum arabic. HUGE margins as you can see. Great looking specialist items, now 87 years old. (4) SG 27/28. $A200

Queensland Railways 1962/63 10/- roulette, top value rarity rated �RRRR� - in fresh *MUH* pair: Top value of the entire pre-decimal series and to find it in a fresh *MUH* pair is quite a gem. RSA Cat $500 as HINGED singles!   Coming up to 50 years old - would any other MUH copies exist? Rarity rated RRRR � a gem to tuck away from this ever popular field - $A350

1915 6d Kangaroo Top RH corner strip of 3.   What absolutely terrific eye appeal. This stamp NEVER has good perfs usually, and with these gem perfs and centring, is a real stand out. Even the colour of many 6d blues is often pale and washed out. Is near 100 years old and has faint even gum aging, but facially a real beauty. If this strip was from a LOWER corner it of course would be $5,000 monogram strip �. the vagaries of the stamp market! $A425

1961 (10/-) 1 Rupee Bechuanaland Protectorate - striking Waterlow/Plate block 10 with overprint error: Spectacular piece. Fresh MUH perfectly centered Waterlow Imprint/Plate number 1 block of 10 � itself a rare piece, this being a top value of set, with high cost price. With ink smearing and black gunk on all stamps, leaving a few slightly doubled looking �R1� denominations. SG 167b �100 = $A250 as NORMAL stamps with no allowance for imprint/plates or printing smudges!   Would readily fetch double this in the UK I have little doubt. $A250

Madagascar �British Inland Mail� � 1895 �Runners� set 2d to 2/-: Clean FU set, that came from an old 1915 SG �Imperial� album. Not a set you see every day! SG 59/61 �330=$A825. Near Quarter Cat - $A225

1913 1/- Emerald Kangaroo with Inverted Watermark and POSTALLY used: This is a curious stamp. Near all the CTO specimen pack copies have Inverted Watermark and are not hard to locate. HOWEVER the ACSC makes a special note that POSTALLY used is �Very scarce� and is rated at $400+. FU examples are $500 stamps. This has a neat �Wannon Victoria� cds cancel, with near perfect centering, and is a TON better looking than most postal used I have seen. These were parcel used and really got battered about in the main. ACSC �from $400� .. and apart from a torn perf at right, would be as close to the best looking you�ll see. Clean and fresh used - no toning or thins. $A325

Tasmania �1 1892 Green and Gold Queen Victoria "Tablet" SPERATI FORGERY: "Used" with a genuine circular cancel, "Hobart Tasmania APR - 1901", and is the ONLY example of this stamp ever seen by most large dealers I have mentioned it to, or shown it to. This exact stamp I have in stock is illustrated in the BPA superb book on the Sperati forgeries, and the excellent Harold Bynoff Smith 'Forgeries' volume.

It is believed to have been a "one-off" attempt, and Sperati it seems abandoned the idea of making more copies, after this absolute perfectionist decided he could not 100% accurately colour match the "real thing". A ton more detailed background on Sperati and his amazing forgeries is found at - www.glenstephens.com/snapril04.html

A quite cruddy looking copy of the �2 Sperati Roo sold at Stanley Gibbons Sydney in late November 28, 2007 for $A4,770, so my $4,000 for this is a for this is a BARGAIN! Click HERE to see how UGLY that stamp was!

This �2 Kangaroo is by far the most "common" of the four Pacific region Speratis, as about two dozen exist - mostly "used". So this possibly unique Tasmania example has to be a blue-chip bargain at 20% UNDER that price - $A4,000. Comes complete with the original Bynoff-Smith album page, and photocopy of the BPA London Sperati handbook pages on this stamp, showing this is the exact example illustrated there. $A4,000

Canberra March 2008 �100 Years Of Scouting� PNC ... UNIQUE Number Combo: PNC�s (Philatelic Numismatic Covers} are about THE hottest thing on the stamp market. This one was a beauty. Only 250 overprinted by Australia Post. Past PNC�s are already selling for many $100s each, and they were printed in many 1000s of copies each.

I bid on these at the auction mid March in Canberra, and outbid several very large dealers, as I was not going to let these slip past. Cost to me for this trio was $1,700. More details on the show here � http://piurl.com/DN

These are the ultimate PNC trifecta � 001/250, 250/250, and the GEM of the trio - the UN-NUMBERED one. The latter is a major ERROR - like a missing color on a stamp. NUMBER ONE is a key collectible in anything � someone just paid $US15 MILLION for a number-plate number ONE - http://piurl.com/DM

Remember these are official BOY SCOUT CENTENARY issues. They were overprinted by Australia Post, and 250 is a TINY run. Even the NORMAL numbers are selling for around $250 each. I paid $1,700 the trio, and will sell them at cost as my donation to the Society. OR I will split them at $A900 for the un-numbered one, $A550 for the 001, and $A375 for number 250.

These are I understand the FIRST PO PNC to carry the special red numbered security sticker (see photo) on the back to GUARANTEE these are AP issues, not �lookalikes� created by some dealers and eBay sellers etc, to hopefully pass off as �genuine PO� at silly prices. For someone who wants the ULTIMATE in Scouting material or PNC material. I will sell at exact price I paid at the Auction, as a support gesture for the Canberra Club! - $A1,700

Easy Germany DDR 1953/54 Five Year plan set 18: Typo. Fresh MUH original gum. Michel 405/422 = Michel 280 Euros = $A450. $A200

KGV 1d Red �Rough Paper� rare Die 2 perf �OS� Absolutely unbeatable appearance: There would not be a better looking specimen ANYWHERE.