A US philatelic auction house will offer a rare 1938 Swiss Pro Aero stamp on December 21, in its one-off Buy It Now sale for the Christmas period.
 The stamp commemorates a series of flight to promote aviation |
The items were posted online with up to a 40% reduction on regular values on December 13. A further 10% will be taken off these prices on December 17, 18 and 19, with the sale closing on December 21. Bidders will not have to compete for the lots, as they are able to click and buy at any time.
A rare version of the 1938 Swiss Pro Aero stamp is providing one of the many highlights, and is currently offered at $9,000. The stamp was created to commemorate the country's first Pro Aero flights, which aimed to promote aviation.
On May 31 of that year a special postal flight was made to 13 Swiss cities, with the existing 50 centimes stamp specially reprinted for the mail carried on board. These were printed in a lighter grey and overprinted 1938/Pro Aero/75/75 to give it a 75c value.
Just a handful of these were printed, all of them in cancelled form and bearing the date "22 V 38". They are now some of the rarest modern stamps in Swiss philately.
The example at auction is in mint never hinged condition and boasts good colour and strong centring. It will be accompanied in the sale by a photo certificate from Alberto Diena, the renowned Italian stamp expert.
Read our recent interview with Swiss-based stamp expert David Feldman.
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