Sotheby’s sale riles philatelists

The auction, which is to be held at Sotheby's London offices a week from today, is being undertaken to raise funds to support the establishment of a new museum to house the permanent collections of the British Postal Museum & Archive (BPMA). Nothing too contentious there, one would imagine. But the proposed sale of duplicate stamps from the BPMA hasn't elicited the kind of reaction that the organisers would have originally anticipated - at least not from certain quarters.

The collection on offer includes "numerous items that are of the utmost rarity", according to Sotheby's, so you would think that it would actually be a red letter day for philatelists the world over. But not everyone welcomes the scale of the auction, partly due to a fear that it could undermine prices by effectively flooding the market. However, it's rather difficult to square this scenario when set against Sotheby's assertion that "no further examples of the BPMA stamps in the auction will be made available - collectors will never again be presented with such a unique opportunity". The decision by the BPMA to hive off what some have described as the "family silver" attracted widespread criticism at the recently held Annual Philatelic Congress. Stanley Gibbons subsequently confirmed that it will not be among the buyers at the 11 July auction, while questioning the basis of Sotheby's aggregate £5m valuation of the 191 lots up for grabs.

The absence of one of the biggest names in the industry is hardly welcome news for Sotheby's, but Richard Ashton, the auctioneer's worldwide philatelic consultant, believes that "the sale will appeal most to specialist collectors" as opposed to dealers, while the spread of "price point opportunities" should guarantee interest across the board - only 15 lots from the high-end of the market are expected to fetch between £100,000 and £500,000.