British Commonwealth Revenues: The Michael Medlicott Collection.

Stanley Gibbons are proud to announce an exciting Signature auction for the Autumn Season.

The wonderful collection of British Commonwealth Revenue Stamps formed by Michael Medlicott FRPSL will go under the hammer in our London auction room on October 26th.

The collection covers the whole Commonwealth and contains well over 100 unique items, including artist’s essays, proofs, and colour trials as well as the issued stamps and their usage, including some spectacular large format documents.

The West Indies section of the sale is truly exceptional and undoubtedly the finest ever formed. Members of The Royal Philatelic Society London will remember well Michael’s October 2016 display during the late Frank Walton’s presidency, an event which despite the spectacular display offered mere glimpse into the depth of the collection which runs into many thousands of pages.

The wonderful and highly attractive issues of British Guiana are well represented, and this collection begins with an extraordinary artist’s essay, exceptionally produced by Waterlow & Sons, surviving artwork from this printer is of extreme rarity.

Revenue philately presents a great challenge to collector, as the stamps themselves were almost always produced without any philatelic distribution, often locally, as and when required through overprinting and surcharging, and tight control of Colonial tax and accounting meant remainders were usually destroyed. Despite their rarity, they were largely ignored by the market, particularly in the post-war years, and only really started gaining popularity again in the late 1980’s with the Revenue Society itself founded as late as 1990 here in the UK.

The sale also represents an ideal opportunity to get started in the field of revenue collecting, one of the most exciting, and fastest growing areas of the philatelic market which increases in popularity every year. Gone are the days when dealers and auctioneers would discard these issues into a mixed lot, with modern philatelists belatedly realising that these often beautiful issues were produced to the same standard as postal issues, printed by the same printers, designed by the same artists. As a result the wealth of archive and proof material well represented in this sale is increasingly in demand.

We are delighted and privileged to be working with Michael to find new homes for his wonderful material and will be releasing further details in the run up to the October 26th sale.

For more information please contact Head of Commonwealth, George James.

Email: gjames@stanleygibbons.com

Call: 0207 5574417