4th August 2009. Melbourne auctioneers Prestige Philately have announced that their recent sale of the collection of British New Guinea and Papua formed by surfing legend, the late Peter Troy, was a great success. The clearance rate of 96.69% meant that only nine lots remained unsold. The knock-down prices totalled $725,225 which equated to 97.66% of the pre-sale estimates. Including the 15% buyer’s premium, the final result was $834,008.
Prestige director and auctioneer, Gary Watson, said the saleroom was buzzing. “The Troy sale was great fun to call. We had a strong book, but clients on the phone and in the room made sure that many lots were pushed to record levels.”
To get things underway, a section of Queensland Used in Papua material was popular, with only one minor item remaining unsold. The top price here was $5290 for a rare 1d wrapper-rate usage.
This contemporary print from the original glass negative was one of the most popular lots in the auction, selling for $2415.
The issued stamps section got off to a great start with two remainder lots estimated at $1000 and $500, selling for $3450 and $2990 respectively! The original photograph from which the Lakatoi design was derived went for almost five times estimate at $2415, and the superb die proof of the vignette made $7187.
At the request of Melbourne dealer Richard Juzwin, the working die proof of the same vignette was offered with the series of 16 colour trials, as a single lot. Opening at the combined reserve of $67,500 this group was eventually knocked-down for $115,000.
Last year’s sale by Prestige Philately of Tim Rybak’s Papuan material resulted in numerous revisions to the Stanley Gibbons catalogue prices. Hugh Jefferies will be busy again when he sees the Troy results.
A used example of the BNG 2/6d SG 16 (Cat £2500) sold for $7187; and the rare Small ‘PAPUA’ 6d SG 70, one of only three used examples recorded, went for $18,400 which made a mockery of the current ‘Gibbons’ quote of only £5000. The 4d Deformed ‘d’ varieties proved very popular, selling in excess of the SG figures.
Unmounted stamps generally went well above full-catalogue. Blocks and complete sheets were also in demand with many lots bringing surprisingly high prices.
While there were numerous strong results in the stamps, the proof material generally, with the exception of the colour trials referred to earlier, was under-supported. Gary Watson made the comment that four of the major buyers of proofs at the Rybak sale were now out of the market, a situation that resulted in a number of remarkable opportunities.
Despite being one of the most important Papuan proof items, this essay for the Large ‘Papua’ Overprints went for nearly $5000 less than its purchase price last year.
For example, the original essay for the 1906 Large ‘Papua’ Overprint was acquired by Peter Troy at the Rybak sale for $13,225 but on this occasion was a late-sale for only $8625. The beautiful Monocolours die proof of the 1d in rose-pink went for the same figure, compared with $12,075 only 15 months earlier.
Fortunately for the vendor, Libby Troy, these results were more than offset by the strong bidding for the more “regular” material in the sale.
Prestige has several times set new benchmarks for Papua’s most famous error, the Inverted Aeroplane Overprint of 1929. The example in the Troy collection was the upper-right corner stamp from the only recorded sheet of 40. In very fine unmounted condition, it went for a new record price of $16,100.
Another stamp that set a new world-record price was the perf ‘OS’ 2 1/2 d from the lower-right corner of the sheet and imperforate at right. Estimated at $8500, it soared effortlessly to $14,950 some $5000 more than Tim Rybak’s example in April 2008.
A feature section of the Troy sale was the strongest array of Stamp Duty and revenue material ever offered at public auction. Peter Troy acquired his 6d with ‘Stamp Duty’ inverted for $515 in 2003: it sold here for $1552. The wonderful 1d corner block with ‘Samp Duty.’ Error and Double Overprints went for $7475 while a vertical strip of the same stamp with the overprint twice on one unit and omitted from another made $6612. The curved overprint on 2/6d rose-carmine, which is unlisted in the Barefoot catalogue, was bid up to $2185.
These exceptionally rare revenues sold for record prices of $2300 and $3680 respectively.
The remarkable group of five bicolour values with Surcharges up to £100 were estimated at $6000 but collectively made a very healthy $10,580.
The auction was rounded-out with an interesting group of covers, postmarks and postal stationery. The highlight here was the 1901 cover with a bisected BNG 4d paying the 2d rate to Queensland. This is a famous item that probably should have done better than the $8625 paid by the new owner.
However, again there were compensating high prices elsewhere. The 1902 cover from Tamata went for double estimate, or $3450 net; the rare commercial usage of a BNG 2/6d on large-part parcel tag got to $2530; and the unique partly handpainted Postal Card essays made $4600.
Rare postmarks on single stamps also did well. The ‘GIRA’ cds now known to have been used at Bogi achieved $2990; the commercial usage of ‘NIVANI’ in violet did almost as well at $2760; while the unusually fine ‘KUMUSI’, estimated at $100, stopped at $1035!
Commenting on the overall result, Libby Troy said she was extremely pleased with how the sale had gone and with the service she had received from Prestige Philately. “I’m sure nobody could have done a better job for us,” she said. “The magnificent hardbound catalogue is a beautiful and fitting memorial to Pete’s collecting passion.”
Readers wishing to receive future catalogues from Prestige Philately are invited to contact the company at PO Box 126, Belgrave 3160, AUSTRALIA. The phone number is +61 (3) 9754 7666; fax is +61 (3) 9754 7677; or email to info@prestigephilately.com
For useful information on the stamps and postal history of Papua New Guinea, visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postage_stamps_and_postal_history_of_Papua_New_Guinea.