The Stamps sale on September 19th 2022 opens the auctions season at Il Ponte.
More than three hundred lots constitute almost small snapshots of great historical events as well as events that often remain on the margins. Starting from the mid-19th century, with the Italian wars of independence, the reference to the Provisional Government of Tuscany emerges in two letters: the one from Brody (Ukraine) to Livorno with postage that testifies the obligatory passage through Switzerland due to the hostilities between the Kingdom of Sardinia and Austria during the Second War of Independence in 1859 (lot 101, estimate € 1,200 - 1,800) and the one sent from Firenzuola on 8 June 1860 bound for Modigliana, of particular interest for the rarity of the postmarks’ combination and the reuse of the paper support (lot 30, estimate € 6,000 - 8,000). In the section devoted to the Kingdom of Italy, “tentativi di frode postale” (lot 41, estimate € 400 - 500) and emissions advertising stand out, with the so-called "busta parlante" from a collection that has never appeared on the market and was issued during the reign of King Vittorio Emanuele II in 1877, when advertising was also done through correspondence (lot 43, estimate € 5,000 - 10,000).
Lot 30 TOSCANA 1860 (8 Jun.)
Provisional Government. Dust jacket with letter from Firenzuola (violet cancellation on one copy and 5 cancellations in pen)
for Modigliana, franked for 10c. with 5 specimens of 1c. lilac and one from 5c. olive green,
subsequently turned over and returned to the sender on 19 June with 20c. light blue.
Estimate: € 6,000 - 8,000
Lot 43 REGNO D'ITALIA 1877 (20 Mar.)
“Busta parlante” without serial number, red on cream, from Rome to Reggio Emilia,
stamped with 2c. brick red, edition of Turin. The envelope, hitherto unpublished,
represents the only known case of a traveled red on cream specimen and the second known ever.
Estimate: € 5,000 - 10,000
Lot 101 AUSTRIA/UKRAINE 1859 (Aug. 18)
Cover with content from Brody (Ukraine), via Switzerland (Olten 23 aug.),
to Livorno (Tuscany, period of the Provisional Government) franked for 15kr. with 10kr. brown and 5kr. vermilion both type II,
taxed "5" and handwritten on front "carico Sardo 20cmi".
Estimate: € 1,200 - 1,800
Always sought after by enthusiasts are period forgeries with exceptional pieces, such as the bulletin sent from Rome to Florence in 1979 with a 1,000 lire chalcographic mail forgery (lot 74, estimate € 2,500 - 3,000). The dense proposal devoted to foreign countries includes among the numerous lots three stamp proofs ordered by the last Emperor of Ethiopia Hailé Selassié, in which it is evident in the graphic layout the will to put the wording in ethiopian rather than in french, compulsory by the Universal Postal Union (lot 110, estimate € 800 - 1,000) and the 1.c stamp of Hawaii printed locally in 1859 (lot 131, estimate € 800 - 1,200).
Lot 110 ETHIOPIA 1942
Hailé Selassié I. 4c., 10c. and 20c. with overprint interchanged, Amharic under the French,
bottom sheet margin singles. Not issued. Natural gum creases on 10c. value.
Included in the lot the issued set (Sc. 250/257, SG 326/333).
A rarity from Ethiopia, only 24 sets reported.
Provenance Roberto Sciaky collection.
Estimate: € 800 - 1,000
Lot 131 HAWAII 1859
1c. light blue on bluish white paper Plate 2-A,
Type VIII (Westerberg Position 4).
Estimate: € 800 - 1,200
Other topical moments of commemoration are the stamps dedicated to the first Olympic Games in 1896 (lot 115, estimate € 150 - 200), to the myth of the west with the "Pony Express" of 1861 (lot 130, estimate € 100 - 150) and to the birth of the Scout movement with the stamp of 1900 dedicated to their founder, General Baden-Powell (lot 121, estimate € 200 - 300). The exhibition closes with the unfailing section dedicated to the conquest of space, including the Apollo 15 "Moon Rover" cosmogram from 1971 (lot 138, estimate € 2,500 - 3,500) and a curious object-holder bag that traveled the universe, from the collection of astronaut Vladimir Titov - the second man in space (lot 142, estimate € 100 - 200).
Lot 138 STATI UNITI 1971 (28 Jul.)
Apollo 15 "Moon Rover". One of the 298 cosmograms transported in space for 12 days
and in the first car trip on the lunar soil by the "Falcon" car. "KENNEDY SPACE CENTER,
Autographed signatures of the three astronauts crew members: David R. Scott, Alfred M. Worden and James B. Irwin.
Estimate: € 2,500 - 3,500
Lot 142 RUSSIA 80s
Personal astronaut bag, used in 1988 to wrap and carry a Nikkor 135mm
lens from MIR space station to Earth. Rare object truly flown in space.
Provenance Vladimir Titov collection (the second man in space).
Estimate: € 100 - 200