Pan-American invert among eye-catching stamps in Harmer-Schau’s Pipex sale

By Michael Baadke

Harmer-Schau Auction Galleries will conduct a public auction May 14 at the Pipex stamp show in Portland, Ore.

The auction is set to begin Sunday at 10 a.m. at the Red Lion Hotel-Jantzen Beach, 909 N. Hayden Island Drive in Portland, where the show is taking place May 12-14. Admission to the stamp show is free.

The auction consists of 762 lots from 51 owners, with foreign and British Commonwealth single lots, a United States section of 275 lots including stamps and postal history, and U.S. and worldwide collections.

A top item among the U.S. offerings is a sound unused example of the 1901 1¢ green and black Pan-American Fast Lake Navigation stamp with center inverted (Scott 294a).

The lightly hinged stamp is described as an attractive example of the classic error.

The stamp carries a grade of 70-fine and is accompanied by a 2017 Professional Stamp Experts certificate. It is offered with an estimate of $6,000 and an opening bid of $3,000.

Along with other used and unused U.S. classic stamps and postal history, the auction offers a broad range of general and specialized collections and accumulations.

One interesting postal history grouping consists of 147 different covers signed by Medal of Honor recipients, including patriotic covers from World War II and cacheted first-day covers with relevant frankings. The medal recipients are from World War II through Vietnam. The collection carries an estimate of $1,000 and opens at $650.

A number of U.S. first-day cover collections will be offered, including a selection of approximately 500 Doris Gold FDCs, from the 1970s through 2006, “all signed and sleeved in Pittsburgh boxes.”

The Great Britain stamp offerings include a used 1882 £5 orange Queen Victoria stamp (on white paper, Scott 93) with a circular Reading “JA 1 00” postmark.

The stamp is described by Harmer-Schau as very fine and showing excellent color. With a Scott catalog value of $5,000, this stamp carries an estimate of $1,200 and opens at $625.

The 1920 full 10-stamp set of Central Lithuania stamps created from surcharged Lithuanian stamps (Scott 13-22) is offered unused with full original gum. This set carries a Scott catalog value of $3,227, and is offered with an estimate of $1,200 and an opening bid of $1,000. All of the stamps are signed Wallner, with the top two denominations signed Esser.

Lots from the upcoming auction are posted online, with online bidding options available.

For additional information, contact Harmer-Schau Auction Galleries Inc., 1333 N. McDowell Blvd., Suite B, Petaluma, CA 94954.