”We shall either find a way or make one.” Bearing these wise words in mind, the idea of an Åland auction house was born said its Director Anita Häggblom from Aland Post.

Following consultations with collectors and other interested parties our ideas eventually became more tangible and, today, we invite you to acquaint yourself with the world’s first auction house run by a postal administration.

Åland Auctions is a website auction house, and we plan to hold two to three auctions every year. Initially, all objects will be older philatelic material such as stamps, covers, cards, coins et cetera. Future auction objects may also include other types of collectibles. Bear in mind that all objects put up for auction are outside consignments and have not been submitted by Åland Post. Åland Post has employed an expert in the field, Tom Granberg, as appraiser and auctioneer.

Join them for an enthralling adventure in the world of collection, so that we may together create an interesting and inspiring auction platform for the entire world.

Worldstampnews.com fully supports the project and wishes Aland Post best of luck with their exciting new website

published November 1st, 2013

A new web-based auction house, Åland Auctions, is has now been launched. The auction house operates, above all, on the international market for various types of philatelic material and other related collectibles. The first auction is scheduled to be conducted in November after which two to three auctions will be held annually.

(read more)

published August 29th, 2013

A previously unlisted error affecting twelve of a sheet of twenty,’1982 British Motor Cars 19½p’ was offered at auction by rare stamp dealer Stanley Gibbons last week, achieving £10,925.

A new error has been discovered this week by auctioneers at Stanley Gibbons. A sheet of twenty 1982 British Motor Cars 19½p featuring a previously unrecorded ‘double grey’ printing error has been sold for £10,925; nearly three thousand times its original face value.

(read more)

published December 27th, 2011

Having announced a five-year sponsorship deal for Congress and the Roll of Distinguished Philatelists earlier this month, members of Stanley Gibbons staff were out in force at the four-day event, held last weekend, to meet with the organisers and key players in International philately.

Amongst the treats on offer were static displays on a variety of subjects including ‘Antique Writing Instruments’, ‘Transatlantic Mail’ and ‘Steamships’ as well as displays by members of Portsmouth & District Philatelic Society, Waterlooville & District Philatelic Society and Hayling Island and District Stamp Club.

Eight speakers presented papers to their peers, with Ashley Lawrence’s talk on ‘Les Ballon Montes’ being selected as the winner of the Stanley Gibbons Congress Cup by (read more)

published July 19th, 2011

Stanley Gibbons June auction demonstrates the strength of Indian and Chinese stamps with a bidding frenzy for rare Indian errors and 60% of China lots selling for double estimate or more.

Wednesday 15th June saw collectors and investors from across the globe focusing their attention on the Stanley Gibbons bi-annual public auction, held at 399 Strand, London as more than 1000 world lots went under the hammer.

Starting with foreign countries, the auction got off to a strong start with all Chinese lots finding buyers. More than 60% of Chinese lots went for double or more their pre-auction estimate including lot 19; the ever popular 1964 Chinese Peonies 2y miniature sheet (SG MS2199a) fine u/m, which sold for £2,760.

(read more)

published July 5th, 2011

Geneva auction house, David Feldman, sold a 1948 10 Rupee Mahatma Gandhi stamp of India for a World Record price of EUR 144,000 (US$ 205,000); this is the highest price ever paid for a single Indian stamp (smashing the previous 2010 record set by the 4 Annas “Inverted Head” error). Additionally it is also believed that this sale possibly represents a World Record price paid for a modern stamp from any country.

The stamp, probably the finest remaining example out of only 18 known in existence today, was issued by the Government of India as a set of 4 commemorative stamps on August 15th, 1948 as a tribute to the father of the nation Mahatma Gandhi, who was assassinated in January of the same year. These were the first commemorative stamps of Independent India, and issued in 4 denominations  – 1 ½ / 3 ½  / 12 Annas, and the 10 Rupees. A set of only 100 10 Rs. stamps (in two sheets) were overprinted with “Service”, making these the world’s least printed stamp.

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published June 5th, 2011

Even with tiny postage stamps, it seems, Chinese works are heading back to China. And when they do they’re shattering records.

At a standing-room-only auction last weekend, Interasia Auctions sold more than 3,000 lots for a value of  98 million Hong Kong dollars (US$12.6 million). And at another sale earlier in the week held by Zurich Asia, a leading stamp auction house, two stamps Cultural Revolution-era stamps sold for more then HK$600,000.

“Stamps from the period of the Cultural Revolution are extremely popular because of the great political story behind them,” said Louis Mangin, director of Zurich Asia, another auction house that specializes in stamps.

The Interasia auction was led by a block of four stamps known as “Mao’s Inscription to Japanese Worker Friends” from 1968, the largest existing multiple of this rare Cultural Revolution stamp. It fetched HK$8.9 million, a record for a Chinese stamp at auction.

(read more)

published March 13th, 2011

Hong Kong auction house ‘Interasia’ will hold its largest stamp auction in a luxury Hotel in the Island from Saturday to Monday, with a presale estimate of over $6.45 million, according to the organizer.

The auction will include both rare Classic China stamps from the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) and 600 lots issued at the beginning of the People’s Republic of China. A three-strip of the $5 inverted surcharge from the 1897 Red Revenue series, which is valued at $619,000-710,000, is expected to set a world record to become the most expensive Classic Chinese stamp multiple ever sold at auction. Another highlight is the unique four-block 1968 “Chairman Mao’s Inscription to Japanese Worker Friends,” with presale figures estimating it at up to $1,032,000.

The issuance of the stamp was cancelled later but a few had been released from a post office in Hebei, according to the organizer. The owner of this stamp, Ng Siong Tee of Singapore once won a Gold Medal at the International Stamp Exhibition in Beijing in 1999, with his own collectio n of Cultural Revolution (1966-76) issues.

“As a philatelist, we are seeing in the People’s Republic stamps a level of interest and excitement that (read more)

published February 25th, 2011

Modern stamps have never been considered as an investment by the experts in Europe although recent auctions which included modern varieties and a wide range of stamps from the QEII reign have proven to be a huge success.

However, according to Asian colelctors and dealers modern commemorative zodiac animal stamps are proving to be a lucrative investment for collectors in China. 

China has been releasing the 12 zodiac stamps yearly since 1980 and they have all appreciated in value considerably. This year’s rabbit stamps are expected to be no exception. The year of the rabbit is jumping ahead with China Post’s release of the latest addition to its zodiac stamp series to commemorate the year 2011.

According to China Post, sales of the new stamps have been magnificent with most stores selling out within four hours of their release. YES THAT;S TRUE, 4 hours after their release the stamps were being sold out. Does this not remind collectors in Europe of the 1970’s?

Wu Cai Hong, general manager, Shanghai Post Company, said: “The stamp industry is very prosperous this year. The value of all stamps has appreciated.

“The price of many old-edition stamps has increased a lot. It managed to put an end to the 13-year depressed stamp market, so collectors are very eager about purchasing the zodiac stamps this (read more)

published January 30th, 2011

A very rare block of Hong Kong stamps featuring Queen Victoria was sold through a major philatelic auction house for a record 821,000 US dollars

The philatelic items in questions were a a block of four 1865 stamps with a face value of 96 Hong Kong cents (approximately 12 US cents) each. The reason for the stamps being so valuable other than the fact that these stamps are almost 150 years old is that these stamps were misprinted in an olive colour.

According to auction house Spink, the stamps were bought by an anonymous buyer

A Spinks spokesperson said “The price is the highest ever paid for a single lot of stamps in Hong Kong. The stamps were sold as part of a two-day auction of rare stamps, coins and bank notes.”

At the same auction, a 1908 Qing Dynasty 1-dollar bank note sold for the equivalent of 308,000 US dollars, a world auction record for a classic Chinese bank note, the auction house said.

published January 24th, 2011

A batch of rare Chinese and Asian stamps with an estimated value of over 20 billion HK dollars (about 2.57 U.S. dollars) are set to be auctioned in Hong Kong by Zurich Asia during the coming weekend, according to a release by the Asia’s leading stamp auction house.

Items going under the hammer includes an imperial China stamp dating back to 1897, which is estimated to worth between 2.5 to 3 million HK dollars.

The small one dollar surcharge on 3 cents Red Revenue stamp is described as “one of the finest examples of its kind” and “the most cherished gem of Chinese philately” by Zurich Asia.

Another star item of the auction is a horizontal pair of 1885 dragon-themed yellow stamps with imperforate between variety. Zurich Asia expects to fetch 1 to 1.2 million HK dollars from selling this piece. In addition, a complete sheet of 80 stamps of 8 fen “Golden Monkey” of 1980 has also garnered a lot of attention from buyers.

Zurich Asia holds two stamp auctions every year in Hong Kong, each time achieving a turnover between 15 million and 20 million HK dollars.

published September 11th, 2010