Post by Londonbus1 on Oct 15, 2015 19:48:36 GMT
Cinderella Stamp Club Auction,
Royal Philatelic Society
Devonshire Place, London.
October 3rd, 2015. 12.45pm
I remember feeling excited as I made the short walk from a friend's apartment in Manchester Square to Devonshire Place [5 minutes] as it was to be the first time I had been to a 'Cinderella only' auction and the first auction of any in 25 years !!
I had marked off the lots I was interested in and viewed most of them a couple of weeks previously at the auctioneer's home. I added a few more 'ticks' on that occasion and was hoping to win at least a few of my choices.
I arrived in time to view a few more bits as they were laid out in an organized manner unlike my first viewing which was a bit hit and miss. I was given number 17 although as the witching hour approached there were about 30+ room bidders. We were advised that about 600 postal bids had been received which got a bit of a 'Wow!' from those present !
Once it got going, David [The Auctioneer] ran through the lots at a steady pace. He said he had hoped to finish the 1,136 lots by around 4pm ! We had a break at 3pm for Tea and Biscuits in the library which gave me a chance, albeit a brief one, to have a look at a book or three. Always a great place to spend time in.
Back in the auction room, the next 400+ lots were swiftly dealt with and an exhausting afternoon came to an end. All that remained was for the winners to pay for their lots they had received from the 'runners'. A dealer was on hand all afternoon and he did some brisk business, including from yours truly !! So most came away with lighter pockets but huge smiles on their faces.....including me.
So what did I win and lose ? I lost my first choice item which was a pair [Green and Blue] of untrimmed 1975 BPE Exhibition sheets with guidelines. I chickened out early and regretted it. Other Exhibition items sold well and I lost all my bids on my favourite topic ! Or maybe I was just unlucky that other like-minded collectors were present. I put it down to cowardice !! Ouch ! 
I did win my next three choices. A sheet of 1922 Marseille Exposition Poster Stamps, rarely seen [Posted up on French Cinderellas] ; 2 Flag poster stamps from Danish west Indies and a set of 'Britain delivers the goods' Propaganda labels in different languages. I will show these and more in a separate thread in the Cinderella stamps category tomorrow or Saturday.
So what was hot and what was not. There were many unsold lots, a larger proportion than I envisaged and many of those fell into the Postal Strike category. Also, most Bogus GB islands and locals did not go well apart from the odd one or two. Drake's Island, Kernow and Guernsey/Sark/Alderney went well. Aside from the British exhibitions previously mentioned, revenues all sold as did Poster stamp lots from Germany and Austria. Most railway stamps did well too especially Talyllyn.
I kept a note of all the lots and their prices/unsolds and it made interesting reading on the train home to Mum. All in all, a great afternoon, I thoroughly enjoyed it and hope to attend another in the future.
Scans of the 'goodies' tomorrow/Saturday...here are a few pics of the day.
Enjoy
Londonbus1
The last pic was the auction room entrance. I couldn't leave this post without another pic or 2 of the Royal and especially of one famous former President, KGV !
