Anticipation continues to build for Interasia's upcoming rare stamp auction at the end of this month. Interasia broke world records with their Asian stamp sale a year ago, and it looks like there's a good chance they could again.

The sale, as we've reported, contains 3,000 lots of Chinese, Hong Kong and Asian stamps and postal history, making it the largest stamp auction ever held in Hong Kong.

The sale is highlighted by the incomparable People's Republic 1968 Mao's Inscription to Japanese Worker Friends corner block of four that is set to establish the record for the most expensive People's Republic philatelic item ever sold at auction (pre-sale estimate HK$ 6m-8m [US$ 774,000-1,032,000]) and which anchors a mammoth 600-lot offering of PRC.

But of course the PRC section is only a part of the auction. The Imperial Chinese section is also extremely impressive.

Large Dragon three candarins, listed at HK$1m, ex. Ferrary collection (Click to enlarge)

The issued stamps feature the fantastic mint marginal pair of the wide margin 5ca. (one of only three recognised unused multiples of the 5ca.) and an 1885 1ca. vertical pair imperforate between, a comprehensive cancellation study, and the most famous of the immensely rare Large Dragon and Small Dragon mixed issue covers.

The separate Small Dragons catalogue complements this with over 30 covers, which represent the most significant offering at auction in the last 15 years, with rare cancellations and remarkable usages.

Watch this space for more details of the sale. Collectors and investors interested in stamps from the region may wish to take a look at these two rarities: an 1885 Chinese olive-yellow strip and this 1888 Taiwanese block of Horse and Dragons.