A key rarity of China will cross the auction block on May 13: a mint, never-hinged 1941 $2 blue and black Dr. Sun Yat-sen stamp with the black vignette (center portrait) of Sun Yat-sen inverted.

According to Cherrystone, the auction will open with “a solid section of United States including many rarities and graded items.”

Highlights of the U.S. offerings include 10 1847 5¢ Benjamin Franklin stamps and six 1847 10¢ George Washington stamps.

The sale opens with 26 lots of Penny Black and Two-Penny Blue stamps and covers. The 1840 Penny Black and 1840 Two-Penny Blue, which feature a portrait of Queen Victoria, are the world’s first adhesive postage stamps.

According to Cherrystone, the auction will open with “a solid section of United States including many rarities and graded items.”

The Orangeburg coil pair in the Pivawer collection comes from a strip of five that was broken into two pairs and a single.

The 241 covers up for bids in the sale catalog are broken down into six sections based on which principal route a cover took from Victoria to its destination.

In the introduction to the sale catalog, Rumsey provides some background on Milgram and his expansive knowledge of steamboats and their postal history.

According to Cherrystone, the Feb. 11-12 auction features more material that Kugel “assembled over a multidecade effort to build an expansive collection of philatelic and postal history items focused on military conflicts of the 19th and 20th centuries.”

Haimann will focus on consignor relations, marketing and expanding Cherrystone’s presence at United States national-level stamp shows and international exhibitions.

The sale, which contains almost 1,200 lots, opens with two used strips of four (one strip on cover) of the world’s first adhesive postage stamp: the Great Britain 1-penny black Queen Victoria, known to collectors as the Penny Black.

According to Cherrystone, the auction will open with “United States, featuring a large collection of U.S. sheets and modern errors.”

Up for bids will be a broad selection of stamps and postal history spanning all eras of United States philately. The sale will conclude with a number of desirable worldwide stamps and covers.

Siegel’s sale of the collection, assembled with a discerning eye over many years, is being conducted in association with Charles F. Shreve, director of Siegel International in Dallas.

On Nov. 11-12, Rumsey will present its extensive fall sale of United States and worldwide stamps and postal history. The Nov. 15 sale features important Mexico stamps and postal history.

First to cross the auction block, on Nov. 12, is the George Haikel collection of stamps and covers of exceptional beauty and rarity.

The U.S. collection includes most of the stamps (Scott 192-204) from the 1880 American Bank Note Co. special printing of the 1879 regular issue.

Collectors attracted to Hong Kong will have numerous opportunities to add items to their collections.

The Oct. 11 general sale consists of almost 600 lots that will “tempt both the general and specialist collector,” Kelleher and Rogers said.

According to Cherrystone, the auction will commence with ample selections of United States, Canada, Great Britain and British Commonwealth.