Rare USA stamps and covers set to be sold at auction

The auction, which takes place 29 and 30 October, includes what has the ‘most outstanding’ collection of 5c Franklin and 10c Washington stamps from 1847, the first USA stamps authorised for general use.

The third sale in the series of Gross auctions will offer an array of important 1847 covers, including domestic and international mail. Several icons of classic philately will be featured, such as the 5c and Canada 3p Beaver mixed-franking cover and the ‘Heidelberg’ cover (as shown).

The two-day sale also includes the USA’s 1851-60 issues, with covers reflecting the ‘myriad events and changes in the domestic and international postal systems of the era.’ Another section of the sale will focus on covers from the period of the Civil War and Reconstruction, including examples of fancy cancellations (on and off cover), Pony Express mail, and colourful covers to foreign countries.

Finally, late 19th and early 20th century covers will also be on offer, including examples the Columbian and Trans-Mississippi commemoratives.

Who is William H Gross?

Bill Gross is an American investor, fund manager, philanthropist, and philatelist, who has created a series of remarkable stamp collections, with many of the world's rarest stamps and postal history items featured. He became only the third person to ever form a complete collection of 19th-century USA stamps. He founded the investment company Pacific Investment Management Co, also known as PIMCO.

In recent years he has gradually sold off his stamps in a series of high profile sales, with the funds from the auctions going to charities such as Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières.

He also donated $8 million, including money from stamp sales, to the Smithsonian National Postal Museum, allowing them to create the renowned William H. Gross Stamp Gallery, the world's largest gallery dedicated to philately.

Find out more at: siegelauctions.com

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