The Philately department kicks off on 22 September 2021 with a high quality catalogue, authoritative in its proposals, animated by rare stamps and unique complete collections
The focus on the Old Italian States is immediate, in particular the Southern States with refined Sicilian stamps. A collection that has evolved with the collecting phases of its owner by integrating specimens from the prestigious “Alphonse Rothschild” collections, including the newspaper "Il Vapore" franked with 1/2 grano arancio table I (lot 466 / estimate € 1,000 - 1,200); and that of “Principe Doria Pamphilj” from which emerges a letter with a strip of three 1 grano stamps, of which the middle specimen stands out for its numerous retouches (lot 468 / estimate € 4,000 - 6,000). In addition to these is a letter from Sicily franked with seven 2 grana (lot 480 / estimate € 1,000 - 1,500).
SICILY 1859 (April 27) Letter without text from Barcellona Pozzo di Gotto to Palermo
franked for 3gr. with vertical strip of 3 of 1gr. rust brown, I table, I state, pos. 6/26
Estimate € 4,000 - 6,000
Moving toward the north we find a selection of “Falsi di Napoli”, appreciated by collectors precisely for the meticulous craftsmanship with which they were created and issued for the purpose of defrauding the post office, while from the Romagna, a territory once part the Papal State, is a rare 6 baj verde which franks a letter dated 15 October 1859 (lot 437 / estimate € 15,000 - 20,000).
ROMAGNE 1859 (Oct. 15) Letter without text from Bologna to Faenza
franked with 6b. green yellow, edge of paper
Estimate € 15,000 - 20,000
A leap in time takes us to the First World War with the important top lot 10 corone of Venezia Giulia issued in 1918 (lot 554, estimate € 14,000 - 16,000), a precious prologue to the section dedicated to the Second World Conflict in which we find a 50 Cent of 1943 issued in Libya during the French occupation of the territory of Fezzan (former Italian colony); legend has it that the overprint, with the wording RF (République Française), was made by engraving the bottom of a bullet (lot 607, estimate € 3,000 - 4,000). A totally different story is told by the collection that traces the origin of two stamps from the Republic of San Marino of 1929 in which it is possible, through numerous essays, to follow the entire development process entrusted to the English studio Bradbury Wilkinson & Co. (lot 784 , estimate € 1,000 - 1,500).
VENEZIA GIULIA 1918 10kr. dark violet of Austria,
hand overprinted "Kingdom of Italy / Venezia Giulia / 3.XI.18."
Of this stamp there are 37 known examples Cert. S. Sorani
Estimate € 14,000 - 16,000
FEZZAN French occupation 1943 50c.
"Imperial" violet overprinted by hand in circle "R.F. / 0,50 / FEZZAN" Cert. S. Sorani
Estimate € 3,000 - 4,000
COVER IMAGE: SICILY 1859 (September 9)
Letter without text from Catania, via Messina (12.9) to Naples
franked for 14gr. with 7 specimens of the 2gr. of various colors, belonging to all 3 tables
Estimate € 1,000 - 1,500
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