International auction days at Corinphila from 26 to 30 May 2015

 ‘Do we have enough chairs?’ - Corinphila Auction in Zurich bursts at the seams!

Once again collectors from around the world gathered last week for the November auction series of the traditional Corinphila auction house in Zurich, which in Auctions 202 to 204 was again able to offer a range of Swiss and overseas philatelic and postal history material that was as wide-ranging as it was high in quality. It is not only recently that Corinphila Auctions have been famous for being a true ‘experience’ - often with a full auction room and spectacular sessions, sometimes lasting deep into the night.

Classic Switzerland enthrals in the ‘Basle Dove’ jubilee year 

This aspect of Corinphila was particularly visible in the "final" of the auction series, the traditional Old Switzerland auction on the Saturday. If the room was fully occupied on the Friday, this was particularly true at the auction on the Saturday. “We constantly had to fetch chairs in from the viewing room and put people in the space between the tables in the auction room, also directly in front of the podium and the large screen on which the live Internet bidding could be seen in the room”, as Corinphila CEO Karl Louis said. The fine material was met with correspondingly keen demand, and the Switzerland auction resulted almost consistently in impressive hammer prices and spectacular increases.

Perhaps it was the ‘170th anniversary of the Basle Dove’ that ‘inspired’ Switzerland collectors in the truest sense. While a fine exhibition given by another Swiss auction house for the anniversary of the Basle Dove might have allowed collectors ‘only’ to dream, these dreams came true at the Corinphila auction in Zurich, which was able to offer many examples of this world-famous stamp. Worthy of mention is, among others, Lot 4016, a marginal example of the Basle Dove with a striking plate error, a dot under the ‘AS’ of ‘BASEL’. From a starting price of CHF 7,500 this increased to a sensational CHF 32,000*.

Lot 4169 made the highest hammer price in the Switzerland auction; this was the earliest known usage of a ‘Double Geneva’ on cover dated 24 October 1843, that reached a fabulous CHF 100,000*. The most exciting increase was in the battle to purchase Lot 4373, a Rayon II and Rayon III stamp of 1850 on a decorative cover from the 'National-Vorsichts-Kassa'. Starting at CHF 2,000 the hammer fell at an incredible price of CHF 32,000*!

European and Overseas countries with outstanding results

The auctions for the areas of Scandinavia (special catalogue - Auction 203) as well as Europe and overseas (Auction 202) left little to be desired. From Denmark via Finland to Sweden, many lots of the Nordic countries of Europe were knocked down at top prices. In the European area Romania was outstanding, including Lot 1658, a letter with the 27 parale value of the ‘Bull’s Head’ issue, that from a CHF 45,000 starting price made CHF 65,000*.

Continued strong demand for the South American collecting areas, from pre-philately to modern, was noticeable. One highlight was certainly Lot 186, that was knocked down at CHF 25,000*. The cover from Brazil, franked with the 60 reis issue of 1843 and dated 19 August 1843, is the second-earliest cover franked with a stamp of the American continent.

The complete list of prices realised in the Corinphila auction series 202 to 204 is as usual to be found online her: List of prices realised.

Collectors also have the opportunity to purchase unsold lots in the ‘after sale’ in our Online Catalogue

The next international Corinphila auction will take place in Zurich 15 - 18 June 2016.

Further information at: Corinphila Auktionen AG, Wiesenstrasse 8, 8034 Zürich/Schweiz
Phone: + 41 (0)44 389 91 91, Fax: + 41 (0)44 389 91 95, E-Mail: info@corinphila.ch