Standout items in Melbourne stamp, coin and postal history auction
Author: Richard Brewster | Posted: 28th October, 2025
Anyone wishing to start a stamp or coin collection could do worse than visit Melbourne-based Leski Auctions forthcoming Coins & Banknotes, Postcards, Stamps and Postal History sale from 12pm Wednesday November 12 and Thursday November 13 At 727-729 high Street, Armadale.
At only a few hundred dollars in the catalogue estimates, many of the 1152 lots on offer are extremely affordable.
However, there are a few standouts for the serious collectors.
One is an 1855-57 New Zealand 1/- stamp, probably the only example still with its original gum (lot 1093) with a catalogue estimate of $30,000-$40,000.
Another is a rare unused deep green 1885 Victorian 25-pound stamp (lot 933) with a $25,000-$30,000 estimate and what might be the only remaining example of an unused purple 50-pound note (lot 934).
An 1886-96 pale blue and maroon five-pound Victorian stamp (lot 935), rarely seen in unused condition, is another strong attraction for enthusiastic philatelists.
From well-known collector of pioneer Australian airmails, Tom Frommer, is a magnificent example from his gold medal collection of The Airmails of New Caledonia 1929-1941 (lot 1080).
This much-admired single frame exhibit won gold medals at Aeropex 2019 and the Singapore Stamp World Championships, a diamond medal at the New Zealand National Championships and a ruby medal at the Victorian Championships.
The exhibit, stamped 5 April 1932, shows the route taken from Paris to New Caledonia via Africa, India, Indonesia and Australia beginning March 9 of that year.
Dated 14th June 1935, the company minute book from the first board of directors meeting of Trans-Tasman Air Service Development Company Limited is an interesting lot (841) because it features the names of iconic pioneer aviators Sir Charles Kingsford Smith, Sir Patrick Gordon Taylor (commonly known as Bill) and John William Stannage – also Kingsford Smith’s radio operator.
The final entry, dated 29th May 1936, followed Kingsford Smith’s tragic loss, en route from England.
Among the coins on offer is an extremely rare 1872 Vittorio Emanuele 100 lire gold specimen from the Rome Mint, one of only 661 ever minted (lot 367).
Other attractions include an 1852 Rayon III 15 Rp brick-red Swiss stamp (lot 1148) and an 1856-1955 Malaya - Straits Settlements stamp album collection (lot 1072).
