Whilst the results of the Sapphire collection of British India stamps were still settling, Spink Shreves pressed ahead with their sale of the second part of Joseph Hackmey's award-winning collection of classic Ceylon philately (1797-1870), regarded as probably the finest of its kind, perhaps ever.
The majority of stamps and postal covers featured in the Hackmey collection came to the market with outstanding provenance. Many have once resided in world renowned collections formed by such philatelic giants as Ferrary, de Worms, Caspary, Dale-Lichtenstein, Agabeg and Pearson.
Three lots caught our eye as they came in:
A 4d dull rose stamp, unused without gum, with the outer frameline touched at the top and cut-into at the foot but generally a very presentable example of this major rarity. Expected to sell for $7,500-10,000 it eased past this for a final price of $12,500.
 Columbo to Liverpool cover |
Secondly, an 1859 (29 Oct.) wrapper which seems to have caught everyone's eye, enclosing a copy of "the export price current", from Colombo to Liverpool. Marked "via Marseilles", it bears a 1d deep turquoise-blue and 2d green (both touched on one side) clearly tied by oval of bars and showing, on reverse, a 'Colombo/Post Paid' datestamp in red.
Despite the wrapper showing some pressed creases and being a little soiled, the rare and desirable franking excited bidders who shrugged off the $1,500-2,000 listing for a final price of $8,500.
 9d purple-brown stamp |
Our favourite, however, was a lovely example of a 9d purple-brown with a marginal watermark. Unused without gum, with good margins on three sides and only two tiny thin spots leaving it short of fine, it sold on target for $22,000.
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