Sensational Stamps and Magnificent Postal Pieces
There are colourful, unused stamps, exciting postal history and incredible rarities at this autumn’s Online Auction. Several original collections come directly from the collectors in their entirety, with both Denmark and the Danish West Indies well represented. We visit the whole world, back in the day when mail was sent by post. Because the rarities just keep coming at the auction, which takes place online at 3 pm on 3 December at bruun-rasmussen.dk. We’ll be offering a number of rare Proofs and Essays, several rare full sheets, a complete plating of 50 øre 1st edition, and the iconic set of prints from the AFA specialkatalog, which are being sold together.
And you can become the owner of the only known specimen in private ownership of the famous Ferslew’s Essay from 1850 – the first printed Danish “stamp”. There are known to be six specimens of the stamp, five of which are at ENIGMA, the museum of post, telecommunications and communication. This is the first proposal for a Danish stamp, engraved in copper plate by court engraver Ferslew and printed in a clear, dark brown-red colour with a background of (almost) horizontal blue lines. The stamp has a 3-ring cancel with a thick outer ring and thinner inner rings. It also has a hand-painted crown in the middle, presumably the first proposal for a cancellation stamp of Danish stamps and made in early March 1851. It is the only known copy of this stamp. In 1835–51, court engraver Martinus William Ferslew (1801–1852) made printing blocks for a couple of the Danish National Bank’s banknotes, and, based on his own drawings, he engraved Denmark’s first two stamps, showing a denomination of four and two rigsbankskilling (National Bank shillings) respectively, for the General Post Directorate, which were issued in 1851. The stamp is part of Lasse Nielsen’s fantastic Danish Proofs and Essays collection, and is estimated at DKK 100,000.
“In 2023, we lost both Lasse Nielsen, Denmark’s most significant philatelist and stamp expertiser of his generation, and Klaus Bonde Larsen, former member of parliament and well-known exhibition collector. Lasse Nielsen is particularly well-known for his magnificent six-volume work Danmarks Tofarvede Frimærker (Denmark’s Bicoloured Stamps). We’re proud to have been entrusted with the sale, and at the upcoming auction, we’ll be offering items from both collections, where both Denmark and the Danish West Indies are prominently represented.”
Preben RaahaugeSpecialist in Stamps & Postal History at Bruun Rasmussen
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To the King, Moscow and a menuAlso included in the Online Auction is a spectacular and probably unique consignment from Copenhagen to Moscow, Russia 16.8.1891, and with it a fascinating letter with perfect number stamp 67, simply addressed “To the King”. It is rare for us to offer old menus, but the upcoming Online Auction features menus of both post-historical and culinary interest. The menus are from the party held in connection with the inauguration of the Central Post Building in Copenhagen on 22 September 1912. On the front of them, there is a 5-kroner stamp issued for the same occasion. A number of these menus have been preserved and are in quite high demand today. The specimens up for auction are in fine, well-preserved condition. Incidentally, oxtail soup, ham with vegetables, and roast partridge were on the menu that day, and the postal service was entertained with extracts of the Danish musical comedy “Elverhøj” (Elves’ Hill). Several specimens of the stamp that marked the inauguration of the Central Post Building in 1912 are included in the auction. |
Hansa airshipIn addition to the above, the Online Auction also contains a number of fine and even unique consignments that will grace any collection. Who wouldn’t want to own a card stamped and sent from the Zeppelin Hansa airship in 1912? The postcard with its violet stamp “An bord des Zeppelin Luftschiff Hansa” is addressed to a family in Haslev, an overfranked and highly decorative card with the Hansa stamp both front and back. The card was sent from Hansa’s maiden flight to Copenhagen, and signed “mange kærlige hilsner til Børge og Mor” (much love to Børge and Mother), and with a witty advertisement for the Hansa flight at the bottom of the postcard. |
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There will be unretouched spandrels, inverted watermarks, original gum for connoisseurs and postal history offering glimpses of all manner of history at the upcoming auction, which will be held as an Online Auction on Sunday 3 December 2023 from 3 pm. There will be a preview at Paul Bergsøes Vej 20b in Glostrup in the week leading up to the auction from 23 November 2023.
For further information, please contact
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Preben RaahaugePreben RaahaugeSpecialist / Stamps & Postal History / Glostrup |