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After fierce competition from auction houses across the globe, Baldwin’s Auctions was proud to host a landmark philatelic sale of important items from the former Singapore Philatelic Museum, offering collectors the opportunity to obtain rare and highly coveted Singapore material. Following intense bidding from global participants, the total rocketed in this white glove auction, surpassing its high estimate, with all lots sold and many sale highlights performing extremely well.
The star lot, as anticipated, was the Malaya Straits cover (Lot 9), a unique cover sent from Singapore to Ireland on 2 December 1855, when Singapore was part of the Straits Settlements, along with Malacca and Penang. This remarkable cover last came to auction in 2000. At 399 Strand on Thursday 28 March, it sold for £93,600 including fees.
From late 1854 until the Straits Settlements became a Crown Colony on 1 April 1867, all three post offices in Malacca, Penang and Singapore used the stamps of India. This cover bears a complete set of four values from the 1854 first issues of India, each of which has been cancelled by an individual strike of a diamond of dots handstamp. The cover is franked with two examples of the ½a. blue, Die I (SG Z60), a 1a. dull red, Die II (Z62), two 2a. greens (Z64) and a 4a. blue and pale red, Head Die I (Z65). Postal markings on the cover include a manuscript ‘1/-’ in red crayon and framed ‘INDIA PAID’ handstamp, an embossed ‘PER OVERLAND VIA SOUTHAMPTON’ printing in red at upper left, and an indistinct London transit c.d.s. The reverse features a ‘SINGAPORE/P.O.’ dispatch c.d.s., a green transit c.d.s. and a ‘NEW ROSS’ arrival c.d.s. dated ’FE 22 1856’.
Robert Smith, the Commonwealth expert at Stanley Gibbons responsible for describing the items in the sale, added: “This cover features each of India’s first four stamps on the front, making this the complete set on cover. It is very rare to get all four values on one cover as the opportunity to use one of each stamp was limited. This certainly adds to its value. It is of great interest to collectors, and especially desirable to collectors of early Indian stamps.”
This outstanding and highly desirable exhibition cover, which has previously graced the Grand Prix award-winning collection of Peng Hian Tay, is one of only four covers recorded bearing at least one example of each value from the India 1854 first issue and is the only such cover known used from the Straits Settlements.
It is described by Dr Philip Kinns, Emeritus Director of Philately and grantee of the Royal Warrant, as “a truly wonderful exhibition item of unparalleled importance.”
The sale, which was curated by the experts at Stanley Gibbons, was the first of two dedicated auctions from the collection, this covering Queen Victoria material. Many of the items offered had been off the market for more than 20 years and previously featured in several of the world’s finest stamp collections, including those of Peng Hian Tay, Howard Selzer, Nestor Nunez, Milo Rowell, Dr Wood and W H Lu.
Iain Murphy, Managing Director of Baldwin’s Auctions, commented:
“The intense bidding from global participants propelled the total hammer to beyond the high estimate. With each lot in the auction finding a buyer, this exceptionally rare white glove event underscored the significance and scarcity of the items on offer from the former Singapore Philatelic Museum – demonstrating Baldwin’s ability to connect with collectors worldwide.
“Part 2 of the collection will be offered later in 2024 – register your interest now to get early updates on the auction.”
Lot 4
Further highlights from the sale:
- Lot 24 – a block of four of the Straits Settlements 6c. on 2a. yellow (SG 5). This block is from the first issue of Straits Settlements stamps from 1867 and is one of just four recorded blocks of the 6c. value. The underlying stamps are from India, which the authorities in Singapore overprinted with a crown and surcharged with a new face value, which invalidated the Indian stamp. The collection contains one of each value in a block, with the exception of the 2c. Estimated at £3,000 – 4,000, the item sold for £15,600 including fees.
- Lot 52 – a cover to Mauritius, which originated from Saigon in Indo-China. Rather than use the local postal service, the cover was handed to a forwarding agent who arranged for the cover to be posted in Singapore instead of Saigon. To the best of our knowledge, this is the only cover from Saigon which has been posted in Singapore. Estimated at £8,000 – 10,000, the item sold for £16,800 including fees.
- Lot 49 – an outstanding cover from Singapore to Pennsylvania. The stamps, neatly affixed and tied by very fine strikes of the D14 duplex cancel, catch the eye and have great visual appeal. The cover is endorsed ‘via England’ in the top left corner; during this period there were two options available to send mail, by steam ship or sailing ship, and because there was no standardisation of postal routes, most people would choose the cheapest route. Estimated at £5,000 – 6,000, it sold for £18,000 including fees.
- Lot 62 – a Greetings telegram sent to an address in Singapore. This is the only telegram within the collection. An eye-catching example of ephemera with a lovely illustration of a galleon. Estimated at £100 – 200, it sold for £360 including fees.
- Lot 11 – an 1857 (Nov) cover from Singapore to London, endorsed “Via Southampton” and franked (at lower left corner) by India 1854 2a green horizontal pair (the left stamp folded over and subsqequently opened for display) tied by several strikes of “B-172” octagon, with red “PAID” arrival cds alongside and indistinct Singapore backstamp; a scarce franking. Estimated at £1,000 – 1,500 the item sold for £5,760 including fees.
- Lot 21 - 1867 (1 Sep) 3c on 1a brown, upper marginal block of 4 with Arabesques, large part o.g.; the lower right stamp with small stain, and slight separation between stamps and margin, but a scarce and attractive block with fresh colour. Estimated at £500 – 600, it sold for £4,560.
- Lot 64 – The balance of the collection on pages and stockcards comprising a range of unused QV stamps and a selection of postal history, noted 1867 set of 9 to 32c on 2a plus 12c on 4a error Surch double (repaired corner), 1867-72 96c perf 12½ h/s SPECIMEN, 1882 wmk CA 2c and 4c, 1892-99 set to $5, various pre-stamp covers incl several with “SINGAPORE / Bearing” marks and 1855 entire franked by India 1854 4a (2 - faults), very mixed cond throughout and some of the adhesives without gum, but a useful and valuable lot. Estimated at £2,000 – 3,000 the collection sold for £9,600 including fees.
