Auction #161 Philatelic & Numismatic

161st International Hall Auction at Felzmann – Philately 8-10 March 2018

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The start of this year’s hall auctions is just around the corner. We will be beginning the auction week in style
with around 4,600 top philatelic lots.
It all kicks off with our special airmail auction “Per Ardua Ad Astra” which, in three chapters, gives a detailed
overview of aerophilatelic history, from the beginnings with ballons montés, to the pioneering achievements of
Zeppelin and airmail all the way to the modern cutting-edge technology of rocket mail, including astrophilately.
Another part of the special catalogue is a fine selection of Zeppelin memorabilia, including a thank-you card to
balloonist Eduard Spelterini written and signed by Count Zeppelin himself (Lot 3169).
There are also many highlights to be found in the field of terrestrial communication. The high-quality material
on offer includes surprising European rarities such as the Red Mercury in Type Ib in excellent quality (Lot 4460)
or Lombardy-Venetia’s unique four-colour franking (Lot 4505).
Philatelic gems from the Old German States include Lübeck’s exceptional specimen of a misprint (“ZWEI EIN
HALB S”) with perfectly positioned town cancel (“LUEBECK BAHNHOF 20/1”). The German Empire section
begins with a 3-kreutzer breast shield in carmine in MNH condition (Lot 4885) and a 9-kreutzer issue in lilac
brown in extremely fine MNH condition (Lot 4901). The Chicago Flight from the Third Reich with a photo
certificate (Schlegel) unsigned and in “… perfect condition” (Lot 5086) – incidentally, all top material auctioned
by Felzmann is certified by experts. World War II field post enthusiasts can look forward to a Kuban admission
stamp for field post parcels in Type III (Lot 5804).
Finally, the German Post-War Philately section includes the title item – and undisputed highlight of the 161st
Felzmann auction – the legendary Gscheidle postcard, the first known complete article of mail, franked with a
60-pfennig stamp commemorating the 1980 Olympic Games, the entire printed issue of which was destroyed
following the Western boycott of the Games. A small number of specimens that survived were used unwittingly
by the wife of Minister of Post Kurt Gscheidle two years later – this is known in philatelic circles as the
“Gscheidle error”. Having already generated extensive media coverage on two occasions before, we are proud
to offer a third opportunity to acquire the “crown jewels of German philately” (Lot 6095). With a “Transport
Exhibition souvenir sheet” on ungummed handmade paper to commemorate the 1953 Transport Exhibition, a
further gem is going under the hammer in a complete presentation booklet (Lot 6090).
Click now to see the online catalogue and bid for those of interest to you online directly.