Messrs. Harmer, Rooke & Co: Stamps in the Sale Room (1910)

The Romance of Philatelic Auctioneering
It is nearly forty years since the first stamp auction was held in London. That was in 1872 at Sotheby’s. The enterprise then was a little in advance of the progress of philately, for there was a long interval before the experiment was again tried.

The principal, Mr E.G. Harmer, in his private office.

Sixteen years after that initial auction there began the custom which has ever since held popular vogue in the stamp world – that of buying and selling stamps in the sale room. For many years now London has enjoyed more stamp sales to the week and to the season than any other of the philatelic capitals. It may be said that there is a stamp sale held in London practically every day during the season.

The Influence of Stamp Sales.
The very prevalence of stamp auctions – all of them doing good business – angurs well for the state, present and prospective, of the pastime which gave this lucrative business its birth. The constant passing of stamps from seller to buyer, from collector to dealer, and dealer to collector, imparts an impetus to the hobby compared with which there is no approximate influence at work in any other collecting hobby.

Stamp auctioneers have therefore more than raison d’etre; they perform a function necessary to the stamp collecting of to-day, and provide movement and life – to say nothing of “unearthed increment” to the objects of our dilletantism or connoisseurism.

The History of a Firm.
Among the auctioneers making a speciality of sales of postage stamps few are better known to readers of The Postage Stamp than Messrs. Harmer, Rooke & Co. This business, which originated in 1901, under the name of Martin, Ray & Co., has of recent years made rapid strides. For the first four years of the firm’s existence the amount of work achieved was not very considerable. In all between 1901 and 1905 there were held eighty public sales of stamps. The sales were then conducted fortnightly.

In 1905 new blood was introduced into the business in the person of Mr. E. G. Harmer, who has has since acquired the sole interest in the concern. From the coming of the new proprietor dates the era of progress and prosperity which as we shall see is not inconsiderable.

But let Mr. Harmer tell the story for he has himself wielded the hammer at over three hundred sales; he has sold over 100,000 lots and as to the number of times he has enunciated the fateful dirge from the rostrum of “going, going, gone,” it baffles our mathematical capacity to estimate.

A Record of Steady Growth
“Since I came into this business,” Mr. Harmer tells us, “each year has seen a steady increase in the volume of the work done. Our turnover is perhap the best guide to the progress we have been making, and we have no hesitation in publishing it – we are in fact proud of each successive year’s advance.

“Here, for instance, in 1906 the first season subsequent to my coming into this concern – we handled 16,398 lots. Last season the total had risen to 24,736 an advance of upwards of 8,000 Iota on the turnover of five years ago.

“Business dispatched is business well done.”

“The advance is not abnormal, as you will see by the figures for the intervening years. It is in fact gradual and healthy. We put on nearly a couple of thousand lots in 1907 and about the same the following season. Then in 1909 the increase slacked off and there was scarcely an advance of a hundred lots. But we made up for that as you will see. Here are the figures:-

1906 … 16,398 lots
1907 … 18,436 lots
1908 … 20,174 lots
1909 … 20,276 lots
1910 … 24,736 lots

Saturday Stamp Sales,
“How did we do it ? Well, if one is to make progress and the business does not grow of its own accord, any manager in his right senses would set about to find some way of making things ‘move.’ Actually our trouble was this – there are only so many weeks in the year and the number of Mondays in twelve months is limited. And you can’t lengthen the Monday sales abnormally to accommodate more lots, because an allowance must be made for the frailty of even the keenest of stamp men. Nearly every other day was already taken up with a stamp sale, so it would not have been good business to start a competing event.

A view of the sale room at 69, Fleet Street.

“Then an idea occurred to me that I thought would catch on. Stamp collecting is a hobby with most people – they have only their spare time to give to it. The rest, of their time they are tied up in their offices and cannot get away to attend a sale and make sure of getting the lots they particularly want.

“So I thought I would try and meet their convenience and incidentally accommodate the surplus lots crowded out from the Monday sales. I started our popular Saturday afternoon sales which have from the first been a very successful addition to our work. They are attended by numbers of business people who are glad to get the chance of buying stamps at auction. It opened up for us quite a new clientele in the number of eople who attend on Saturday after business hours could never get to our Monday sales.

Sale Room and Offices under One Roof.
“But in my enthusiasm in telling you of the success we have had with the Saturday sales I have been skipping some of the incidents of which I ought to speak. We moved from our old home in Chancery Lane in 1907 and came to our present quarters in Fleet Street. We took the entire floor and converted it into an auction room providing seating accommodation for from fifty to sixty visitors, and two offices.

“We find it a great advantage to have our offices and sale room under one roof. There is no chance of the occurrence of such incidents as are occasioned by the assistants leaving some of the lots behind at the offices. I have occasionally heard auctioneers say ‘this lot was too bulky to bring along with us.’ Every lot we sell is in the room and on view at the time of the sale. The rooms are conveniently together in other ways. Collectors and dealers are constantly in and out examining the lots of which there are plenty nearly every day on view owing to the frequency of the sales.

Philatelic and Other Refreshment.
“We have always endeavoured to make the sales popular with both dealer and collector. Our Saturday afternoon sales are a feature of this policy. They commence at two o’clock and are generally over by five. But the time is passed pleasantly enough for we provide our visitors with tea and other refreshments.

“Most auctioneers require lots to be sent in some months in advance of the sale, but we pride ourselves  on our gaurantee of inclusion within seven days, and upon the not less important feature to the vendors of settlements in ten to fourteen days after the sale.

“Collections? Yes we have dispersed many fine ones, but our chief feature is the sale of large consignments of wholesale lots received from India, Morocco, Italy and the United States, We conduct wholesale sales several times every month, and have sold dealers’ stocks running into four figures.

The Advertising that Pays.
“Yes, we believe in advertising. We have advertised now consisently in The Postage Stamp and with success. Where most people in the stamp trade fail with their advertisements is that they lack the pluck to keep pegging away by means of advertisements. It is not so much that their copy is bad, as that they are only content to insert the advertisements spasmodically. We advertise also in India, the United States, Germany, France and Holland, and in the general newspapers. Even in novels we find a profitable source of new business.

“Our correspondence is considerable, and for an auction firm we have to maintain a good number of assistants, clerical and philatelic. Talking of correspondence, I had a letter the other day from a lady who said that her daughter had ‘gathered’ some stamps and would like us to provide her in place thereof with a piano or a Shetland pony. But although we could not supply the lady with her particular desires we often get casual correspondents and callers who bring with them what we are mainly here for, namely, good business.

“A coloured visitor some time ago proved to be a native Indian who had come to this country with the special object of disposing of an enormous accumulated stock. Aftera few trial sales the results were so satisfactory to the owner of the stamps that he handed over the entire lot to our firm, a lot which kept us busy for some months.

Market Indications.
“As we deal solely with the market side of stamp collecting we cannot but express our satisfaction with the firm and upward tendency of the market. The prices of old stamps are steadily rising. The £5 orange Great Britain rarely realised more than 30/- to 35/- a few years back; it now sells at 50/- for fine copies. An unused copy of the variety on blue paper was sold by us last July for £63.”