Historic flight covers among Victorian lockdown auction offerings

Like several other auction houses in Melbourne who have reverted to online only auctions during Stage 3 and 4 coronavirus lockdowns in Victoria, Leski Auctions has pushed ahead with a two-day Stamp, Coins & Postal History sale (covering almost 1000 lots) for Saturday August 22 and Sunday August 23 where the only person bidders will be able to see is auctioneer Charles Leski standing in an empty auction house room in Armadale.

The auction will start each day at 12pm and bidding is either absentee, online or by telephone. According to the auction company, bidders should be particularly interested in several of  the sections that cover collectables from Australia and many other countries.

Among the stamps is a fine range of Kangaroo material (lots 85-112), King George V heads (lots 113-139) and 5d Chestnut imperforate plate proofs.

Of particular note is lot 129 – a 5d Chestnut imprint block of four with a. catalogue value of $9500 – and lot 138, a ¼ Commonwealth of Australia block of 48 MUH, probably the largest block of this stamp still in existence.

The specially printed cover from the 1926 Pacific Islands survey flight by Group Captain Richard Williams (lot 289) has the highest catalogue estimate ($17,500-$20,000) among the aerophilately and flight covers memorabilia – while lot 290 commemorates the first air crossing of the Pacific (May 31, 1928) in Southern Cross with Australian aviator legend Sir Charles Kingsford Smith, Charles Ulm, James Warner and Harry Lyon sharing the glory ($15,000-$17,500).

Lot 273 is a flight cover carried by Australian aviators Ross and Keith Smith on their November 1919 to February 1920 historic flight from England in a Vickers Vimy.

The catalogue front cover carries a photograph of lot 150 – a complete sheet of 3d Kookaburra miniature sheets, while lot 156 is a 5/- Sydney Harbour Bridge imprint strip of three stamps.

Complete sheets of 1966 Navigators (lot 229) are another highlight while the Australian colonial section (lots 374-578) contains strong offerings which no doubt will be of particular interest to New South Wales and Tasmanian collectors.

Other sections of note include stamps from Austria (lots 641-650), including pairs of unissued Fascist stamps from 1946, China (lots 667-676), Christmas Island (especially lot 680), the 1963 Plate Proofs of Cocos (Keeling) Island (lot 683), Cyprus (lots 688-692), Germany (lots 712-735), Great Britain (lots 739-783) and Israel (lots 803-812).