Weeda Stamps Weekly Bidboard Auction -- Saturday, February 14

WEEDA STAMPS (VANCOUVER) WEEKLY BIDBOARD AUCTION
Closing 12:30 p.m. Pacific Standard Time on Valentines Day, Saturday,
February 14, 2004

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Every week, Weeda Stamps* of Vancouver, British Columbia offers 150 or more
lots of Canada and worldwide stamps, postal history, collections, and
accumulations in its bidboard auction. I pick out three lots which appeal to
me, but don't worry, I won't be bidding against you, not this week anyway.
Now if I could get Beverly to break up that sheet of Admirals.... Here are
my choices for this week's auction:

Lot #14: http://www.weeda.com/stampimages/14.jpg -- Canada #123. VF MH 1c
dark green Admiral coil. Looks great!

(OK, it's hinged, and so what?! As Beverly says, it does indeed look great.
What color!)

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Lot #106: http://www.weeda.com/stampimages/106.jpg -- Canada #184. Sheet
of 100 of the 1931 perf 12x8 3c carmine Admiral. Trimmed close at left. MNH.
Astounding showpiece. Plate #14 at top, not counted as plate block.

(The collector who has everything probably doesn't have this! Except for the
close-trimmed stamps at the left, every stamp looks to be VF centered. If
Beverly were interested, I'd take just the plate block of 16, and she could
use the rest for postage.)

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Lot #132: http://www.weeda.com/stampimages/132.jpg -- Russia #970. The
1945 2nd Anniversary of victory at Stalingrad. VF used souvenir sheet.

(It's often buried or even ignored in Western histories of the Second World
War, but the Russian victory at Stalingrad in 1943 marked the turning point
in the war. From Stalingrad on, Hitler was never able to repeat his earlier
successes on the battlefield; his armies were repeatedly decimated and
pushed back and back toward Germany by superior Russian forces in the East,
and after June 6, 1944, by Allied forces in the West. The Battle of
Stalingrad is one of the most moving stories of the war; one of the best
histories of the battle is Antony Beevor's book Stalingrad -- The Fateful
Siege: 1942-1943. Several Russian stamps commemorating the battle of
Stalingrad have been issued over the years, and one of them, Scott #4051,
shows the incredible 52-metre statue of "Victory" at Mamayev Hill. See
http://www.stalingrad.com.ru/hill/plan.htm for information about the
memorial complex, with photos of the statue. Sadly, the statue is in serious
disrepair and has been the target of vandals in recent years.)

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Except for large items such as collections, box lots and accumulations, most
of Weeda's auction lots are illustrated. For the full list, as well as
prices realized in the previous four auctions, go to the Weeda Stamps web
site at http://www.weeda.com.

BIDS, IN CANADIAN DOLLARS, CAN BE PLACED IN PERSON, BY TELEPHONE, OR ON-LINE
UNTIL 12:30 P.M. PACIFIC STANDARD TIME ON SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2004.

A note about "prices realized": Only rarely does bidding in philatelic
auctions reach estimated values. If you study the listings and the
prices realized, you'll see that bargains are waiting for any collector. It
is common for expensive and even rare stamps, covers and other philatelic
items to sell in auctions for as little as 10% or 20% of the estimate.

Bob Ingraham

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* Weeda Stamps is owned and operated by Beverly Fox. Here's a recent
photograph of Beverly, taken in her stamp shop at in the Seymour Building at
525 Seymour Street in Vancouver: http://www.ingraham.ca/bob/beverly1.jpg.
Here is a photo of the Seymour Building where her Weeda Stamps is located:
http://www.ingraham.ca/bob/seymourbldgwidebw.jpg.