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I thought I would share one of the most treasured stamps of Greek philately that is up for auction in the upcoming Karamitsos sale of October 1st (lot 328): the famous "Solferino".



The Solferino - error of color - is the rarest of all Greek stamps, featuring the profile head of Hermes. These stamps were most impressive because of their striking salmon color.

The Greek stamps had control numbers printed on the back of the stamps. In the 40 lepta of the 1871-1872 issue these figures on the back were printed in lilac-rose ink, while the front was printed in rose bistre to yellow bistre shades. Somehow the front side of one sheet of 150 of the 40 lepta was printed in the lilac-rose ink of the control numbers. This resulted in the famous 'Solferino' error of color, which was described by early philatelists as 'dark red' rather than lilac-rose.

Thirteen examples have been recorded so far, all in used condition and all used from the port of Piraeus. Two examples are in excellent condition, the rest appear to have minor or major faults. The Hellas catalogue value of 130.000 Euros is for a used copy with minor faults.

The copy up for sale by Karamitsos has a thin and a small cut on the left. It is ranked 7th on the quality rating of the recorded examples. It has a starting price of 40.000 Euros.

So Vasia - what is your guess as to the hammer price?

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Click HERE to see superb, RARE and unusual stamps, at FIXED low nett prices, high rez photos, and NO buyer fees etc!

A very nice sale to celebrate the 150th anniversary of these stamps.

Luca

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Luca
Interested in Napoleonic period, postal relations between Great Britain and Europe from 1793 to 1815, Jamaica pre-stamp mail, Samoa "palm tree" issues, philatelic literature.

Has the market for quality Greek stamps suffered as a result of the economic situation?

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Peter
Hawthorn - AFL Premiers 1961, 1971, 1976, 1978, 1983, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1991, 2008.

Hey there PeterS,

Allow me to quote from the latest catalog on an auction set to take place on
October 1st 2011:

"After so many years of research and study, Greece must be the only country in the
worldwide philatelic community whose stamps cause such constructive discord
amongst scholars over their classification. Therein lies the blessing and the beauty
of the accompanying scientific research, which continues to imaginatively produce wondrous results"

To answer your question:

The postage stamp market in Greece was doing well before the 2010 Greek financial crisis and now it's leveled off slightly. Not to say it's not popular now.

Greece was and will always be a favorite among specialized collectors, especially those who concentrate on the Hermes heads. The economic situation has affected the buying power of the philatelist wishing to 'freshen-up' his collection but still is an attractive investment and entertaining hobby.

There are currently 2 stamp stores I know in downtown Athens and they both seem to be surviving.
I went there last week and they were well stocked and very helpful with all their customers.

But they did tell me that the amount of customers walking through their doors has drastically been reduced. The economic situation has affected their pockets to a certain extent.

I think that as in every other country, through thick and thin, it is not a cheap hobby to
maintain but we philatelists always seem to find a way to support and upkeep what we love, stamps.

Cheers.

Just returned from the Karamitsos auction of the Large Hermes Heads (a total of 538 lots). The famous "Solferino" did not receive any bids from the floor and presumably remained unsold at the 40.000 Euros starting price.

There was strong interest and bidding in essays and proofs, as well as in other quality material. Once again, it was proven that good-margined examples of these imperf stamps are in high demand and can fetch prices well above catalogue value.

Here are 2 examples:



Lot 68: Hellas 1b (Scott 1) - red brown shade.
A used marginal example from the lower right corner of the sheet (pos. 150).
Hellas catalogue price: 450 Euros.
Starting bid: 230 Euros.
Auction realization: 1.680 Euros (w/out the 18% commission + VAT)



Lot 89: Hellas 4b (Scott 7) - orange on blue
Hellas catalogue price: 380 Euros.
Starting bid: 200 Euros.
Auction realization: 775 Euros (w/out the 18% commission + VAT)

And an additional example to illustrate my point, this time with a more "humble" stamp:



Lot 280: Hellas 27a (Scott 27)
A used example with huge margins and parts of the 4 adjoining stamps.

Hellas catalogue price: 18 Euros.
Starting bid: 15 Euros.
Auction realization: 126 Euros (!!!!) - w/out the 18% commission + VAT

No it has portions of 7 - probably EIGHT, adjoining stamps.

A gem.

What is Scott value of #27, does anyone know?

_________________
.
Click HERE to see superb, RARE and unusual stamps, at FIXED low nett prices, high rez photos, and NO buyer fees etc!

You are absolutely right! Portions of 7 adjoining stamps.

The Scott 2009 price for a used copy of #27 (20 lepta of the "Cleaned Plates" issue) is $8!

Auction realization: 126 Euros (!!!!) - w/out the 18% commission + VAT

No sure of your VAT cost -- what was invoice figure on that do you feel?

Also can you email me the link to the sale cat image please (I can't read Greek to find it!) - might run this in my next column.

Scott Cat $8 stamp gets $USxxx due to super margins!

VAT is 23% on his commission + postage & packing expenses.

So total invoice might look something like this:

Auction realization: 126 Euros
Commission 18%: 22,68 Euros
Postage & packing: 5 Euros (approx.)
VAT (as above): 6,37 Euros

TOTAL: 160 Euros

The link to the sale catalogue (in English) is:

http://www.karamitsos.com/view_auctions.php?auc=411

and the picture of lot 280 is here:

http://www.karamitsos.com/preview.php?i ... =5&auc=411

Perfect.

So, a $US8 Cat stamp was invoiced for about $US215 - or 27 times Scott - as it was superb.

_________________
.
Click HERE to see superb, RARE and unusual stamps, at FIXED low nett prices, high rez photos, and NO buyer fees etc!

Hey there guys,

The lining to the right of the stamp, does it occur on corner or side issues only?
An off-print maybe?




Thanks.

If that was an Australian stamp I would say it was a compartment line at right. Compartment lines occur when there is a build up of ink on slightly raised metal between the individual cliches on a printing plate. Occurs most readily on stamps that are required in large numbers (common rates, such as the letter rate), where the cleaning of plates is a little less punctilious than might otherwise be the case.

A good example was the Australian 1d Red GV definitive. There were only 4 plates and they required hundreds of millions of stamps a year, so they were pretty much always in use.

The reason I am guessing the Hermes is a compartment line is the top right corner. however, I know nothing of these stamps and am probably completely wrong!

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Peter
Hawthorn - AFL Premiers 1961, 1971, 1976, 1978, 1983, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1991, 2008.

PeterS

Thank you for the explanation, makes sense to me. Will definitely look into
it taking what you've just said into consideration.

Cheers

Spartacus,

I have been trying to find some information on the lining that you showed on the 30 lepta stamp of the 1882 issue. Constantinides in his 1933 work ("Etude sur les timbres de Grece") mentions the existence of a thin line, in the same color as the stamps, in the margins of the sheets of the 30l and 60l stamps of the Athens printings, at a distance of 1mm from the stamps (p. 186). However, he does not appear to differentiate it from other, often broader and more diffuse lines found on the margins of other issues.

I do not have a definite answer, but I can make several points:

1. Most of the values of the Large Hermes Heads (1l,2l,5l,10l,20l,40l and 80l) were printed throughout the years from 1861 from the same plates. These plates have been found, mostly intact, and described (see Constantinides' work). They consist of 150 individual cliches (dimensions: 22.5x18.5 mm and 6mm high) placed on a bronze base in 15 horizontal rows of 10 and glued on it and to each other by a reddish "sticky material ("Matière collante"). Apparently, the bronze base has a margin encircling the cliches, but this margin is 4mm in height, so it is below the surface of the printing cliches.

2. This set-up of the plate for these values would seem to exclude any possibility of extra lining due to the inking of raised metal surfaces, either on the border of the plate or in between the cliches. There were no such raised surfaces on the plates of these values.

3. The plates of the 30l and 60l values (introduced much later in 1876) have not been found intact. However, they showed a number of fundamental differences from the earlier plates: a) they consisted of 300 (not 150) cliches, b) they were constructed from blocks of 15 cliches. These blocks were molded together electrochemically (galvanoplasty), and then arranged next to each other on the plate . Constantinides does not describe anything regarding the margins of these blocks, the margins of the base of the plate, etc.

4. Constantinides explains all lining on the margins of the sheets (including the thin lines of the 30l and 60l stamps) as due to dried ink on the typographic composition used by the printer to hold the plate on the printing press (i.e not due to marginal inking of elements of the plate itself).

Here is a 30l stamp from the 1876-77 Athens printing with the characteristic thin line on the left margin (1mm from the stamp):

vasia

Wow... thank you for going to all the hassel to get this info. Much appreciated.

So it basically boils down to the fact that it is an occurance that doesn't require
further studying the stamp any further... or does it?

Thank you.

Spartacus,

well, it would appear, from what Constantinides is saying, that the lining has to do with the arrangement of the plate on the printing press, NOT with the printing cliches themselves.

Being a relative newcomer in the field of the Large Hermes Heads, I cannot be sure that more pertinent information has not come to light since Constnantinide's work in 1933.

We can keep looking....

I do not know if it can help you, but The Royal Philatelic Society London has just released a new work by Constantin Mattheos "Introduction to the Large Hermes Heads of Greece 1861-1886". For more details see http://www.rpslcatalogue.org.uk/publications_books.asp

Cheers
Luca

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Luca
Interested in Napoleonic period, postal relations between Great Britain and Europe from 1793 to 1815, Jamaica pre-stamp mail, Samoa "palm tree" issues, philatelic literature.

Vasia & LucaL

Thanks, will definitely have a look at that.

Cheers

Another one for the record...

Nice one, Spartacus!

By the way, if you are strongly interested in the Large Hermes Heads (I don't know if it is a main collecting area of yours), you might want to take up the following offer of the Hellenic Philotelic Society:

For 70 EUROS they offer the following 2 classic references as a set:
1. A reprint of Constantinides' 1933 work "Etude sur les timbres de Grece", part I (Large Hermes Heads). The text is in Greek and in French side by side.
2. John Koundouros, "The control numbers and the classification of the stamps of the Large Hermes Heads" (published in 2000, in Greek).

You can obtain them from their downtown Athens office in Academias St.

Their site is at: http://www.hps.gr/en/main.htm

Vasia,

I will go and pay them a visit and see what's on offer.

I do have great interest in the Large Hermes Heads and any information to further
increase my knowledge on these items could only be an asset.

Thanks

vasia,

By-the-way, it does exist on the small Hermes heads too.



Cheers

As far as the market for Greek stamps goes, I'm guessing the current meltdown in Greece per se won't have much effect, as most of the serious money for Greek stamps must be in places like US and Germany - pops. of 300m and 80m vs about 10m for Greece.

But still early days yet to tell how the new recession will affect the stamp market?

I have just finished to review the Mattheos book I mentioned some message above: it is a wonderful and useful addition to the library of the lovers of classic stamps. It is a must for Hermes Heads collectors.

Luca

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Luca
Interested in Napoleonic period, postal relations between Great Britain and Europe from 1793 to 1815, Jamaica pre-stamp mail, Samoa "palm tree" issues, philatelic literature.

At the moment, the market hasn't really affected the stamp trade.
Karamitsos is to hold it's pre-Christmas auction on 14th December with some great rarities up for a bid.


Cheers

Another Solferino up for sale in the upcoming Cherrystone auction of December 7-8:



Below is the catalogue description:

"GREECE 1871-72 40L lilac rose on greenish paper, the so-called "Solferino", used, with three large margins, uneven to just touching at upper left, excellent color, cancelled Piraeus 12 July 71, fresh, signed Peter Holcombe, with his 1988 certificate ("the stamp has an extremely fine and fresh colour and is without defects. Large margins on three sides and the outer frame line just touched at the top of fourth side. One of the finest of the very few known copies of the rarest and most popular stamps of Greece.") A legendary stamp, of which only 13 (!) have been recorded (among these, one is on piece, another on cover. Two are in sound condition, while all others have varying degrees of faults). This is number V in the Williams classification, ex-Herbert Bloch collection. The "Solferino" got its name after the infamous battle, where it was rumored that the blood on the dead soldiers uniforms had this particular color (Hellas No.36a, catalogue value Euro 130,000 for an example with faults)"

Starting price: $24,000.00

Our Greece experts seem to all be on this thread!

Does anyone know if this is genuine or not? Bought in a 3 volume collection of Greece today. Looks rough to me.

Bent corner and fluffy perfs.

Hi all,

I just examined my Hermes heads collection, and found the same line characteristic, but on the bottom side.
Is it an interesting copy?



Thank you for your advice.

Regards.

Billys.

Glen,

sorry I can't be of too much help with your 10dr stamp from the Athens 1896 Olympics issue. My (relative) expertise is limited to Hermes Heads. The drawing and impression of that stamp definitely look quite coarse and, given the catalogue value of the stamp, an expert opinion is required.

A new book has recently been published by Bill Ure: "Forgeries of the Greek stamps of the 19th century" (Collectio, Athens 2010). I haven't had the opportunity to obtain it yet, but, if you are interested, you can contact the publisher, Alexandre Gallinos, here: info (at) gallinos.eu.

Hi Glen,

Here is a genuine copy of this 10Dr, coming from my collection:



You might be able to make your own opinion about your stamp.
If you need a larger scan, don't hesitate to ask for it.

Regards.

Billys.

Now here is an interesting development!

A few months back (see my posting of November 21st) I described a rare Solferino up for sale in the Cherrystone auction of December 7-8. The stamp, which had a starting price of $24,000.00, apparently realized $35.000.

The upcoming Karamitsos auction of May 12th is offering the same copy of the "Solferino" with a starting price of 45.000 EUROS.

I think this stamp is a beauty, so I am posting a larger scan from the auction:



Below is a typical shade of the 40 lepta of this issue - rose bistre (Hellas 36b, Scott 37) with lilac-rose control numbers. The famous "Solferino" resulted when the front of the sheet was printed with the same ink used for the back:

Will be very interesting to see what price the solferino sells for, if bid.

€46,000! Sometime one gambles and wins. Odd, as I thought the Solferino offered by Karamitsos 10/1/2011 lot 328 was better looking.

Hello
Is this lilac-rose control numbers

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