The auction of the John Forrest Collection of Cancellations of the British Empire May 19th

London Pride is glowing

Held during the week after the highly successful London 2010 International Stamp Exhibition, the Grosvenor May 2010 auctions achieved a remarkable combined total of £1,114, 523 well ahead of the pre-sale estimate of £947,640.

The auction of the John Forrest Collection of Cancellations of the British Empire, held on Wednesday May 19th, was a remarkable event, the sale of a life’s work devoted to gathering examples of the great range of cancellations employed across most of the former Colonies and Dominions. These detailed studies were contained in over 500 albums and much consideration was given as to how these might be sold to best advantage for both buyer and seller. The 657 lots were divided between both individual rarities and extensive collections that retained the comprehensive overview of each territory that had been created.

These latter proved tremendously popular, with many bidders inspired by the thought that this was, indeed, a “once in a lifetime opportunity” to purchase the work of such a renowned specialist. The South Australia collection (lot 77) held many rare items and soared to £28,080, the Victoria (lot 104) and New Zealand (lot 163) collections rose to £11,700 each. West Africa was a particularly notable area, as confirmed by the Southern Nigeria collection (lot 549) reaching £6,959 whilst the Gold Coast collection (lot 486) impressed greatly by climbing to £21,596.

Lot 605 sold for £2457

Individually the highest achieving item was an attractive 1893 envelope from Sierra Leone to Zurich (lot 605) which displayed both a fine strike of the MANOH SALIJAH Post Office red oval handstamp and Swiss 5c. postage due adhesive, this finding a new home for £2,457.

The total realisation for this auction of £317,295 greatly exceeded the pre-sale expectation of £266,830.