385th Auction

1861, Large Hermes head 2l. brown, two singles 5l. green and singles 40l. lilac on blue and 80 l. carmine on rose, fresh colors and mostly good margins, 40c. touched at top, applied upon arrival and tied by numeral “1” to folded letter originating in Marseille, an attractive 4-color franking, signed Bühler

1861, Paris Printing, Hermes 5 l. green on greenish, vertical pair, fresh color and close to wide margins, used with cds., quite scarce with cds. instead of numeral cancellation, fine

1861, Paris Printing, Hermes 10l. orange on blueish, horizontal pair, fresh color and good to wide margins all around, neatly cancelled with central numeral “32”, very fine, signed Bolaffi and Diena

1872, Hermes 40l. green-olive on blueish, block of four, fresh color and good margins all around, unused, upper left stamp small paper break in the margin, otherwise fine, certificate Diena (1992)

1 l., 5 copies, tied by c.d.s. "ATHENS 1/15 APR. 1897" to printed matter wrapper to New York, with arrival mark. Small transportation marks, otherwise very fine. Rare printed matter to overseas.    

10 l. in combination with Small Hermes Head 20 l., tied by c.d.s. "ATHENS 3/28 MAR 1896"(4th day of the games), to envelope, showing on reverse seal of the German consulate, to Karlsruhe, Germany, with arrival mark. A very fine and rare usage during the games.   

1906, Olympic Games 1 dr., tied to domestic envelope with transit and arrival marks

1906, 2 dr., tied to registered envelope from Athens 1910 to Germany with arrival mark. Very fine and rare.

1906, Olympic games 5 dr., die proof in rose and 2 dr., die proof in green, on carton

2004, Olympic Summergames Leonidas Sampanis 0,65 €, laserprinting, withdrawn value, souvenir sheet, mint never hinged, fine

1896, Olympic games 1 l. – 10 dr., all tied by (partly very weak) red Olympic committee cachet to printed sheet "OLYMPIC GAMES" with manuscript text "For Mr. Zafirion on behalf of his RH the crown prince….". Sheet with marginal faults, mounted in frame.

1896, Olympic games, 1923 reprints with the original die (with permission from the Greek government) 2 dr. reply postcard in deep blue on buff card, and 2 dr lettercard in deep red on buff paper, the later one somewhat toned, otherwise very fine and rare

"ISMAIL 9 APR 73", small blue c.d.s., clear on unpaid lettersheet to Corfu, taxed upon arrival with 100 lepta and franked with 80 l. and 20 l.. The entire somewhat fragile with paper break on front, still fine and very scarce.

1 l.  in marginal block of 10 with negative Corfu "TAMEION" treasury seal on reverse, very fine and scarce

"ATHENS 3" on 1 l.- 10 dr., 2 dr. with first day cancellation, few short perfs otherwise fine/very fine

20 l. in block of 4 with full sheet margins, on reverse clear treasury seal "TAMEION KERKYRA" , unmounted mint, on two sides staining in the margins only, otherwise very fine.

25 l., tied by cds. "CHALCIS 22 JULY 1896" to commercial cover to Germany with Athens transit- and arrival mark. 

"AGENCY OF/THE HELLENIC STEAM NAVIGATION/D.P. GOUDI/IN CHALKIS", large part of lilac boxed handstamp on 25 l.

"CARIDDI*PIROSCAFO POSTALE ITALIANO 24 GIU 96" on 25 l. with additional strike alongside, on commercial cover to Germany, with arrival mark. Slight opening faults, still fine and scarce.

Official corner card cover "COMITÉ DES JEUX OLYMPIQUES A ATHENS", used with Hermes 25 l. (defective corner), tied by c.d.s. "ATHENS 7 MAR 06", to IOC member Dr. Willibald Gebhardt in Berlin. Rare and most interesting.

1 l. (2), 3 l. and 5 l., tied by  c.d.s. "ATHENS 11APR. 06" (third day of the games) to picture postcard with texts, mentioning the Olympic Games, to Lund in Sweden; most likely written by the Swedish participant and bronce medal winner (tug of war) Oswald Holmberg.

1862/1981, used collection including 55 large hermes heads incl. postage dues, good condition, in five neat hingeless albums

1896, Olympic issue,  1923 reprints from the original dies ex 60 l. - 10 dr. three die proofs and five plate proofs in different colours     

1927/80 (ca), interessante Sammlung “Luftpost in Griechenland” mit u.a. besseren Frankaturen,  frühe Erstflüge, Destination und weitere Besonderheiten

1970/95 (ca.), geschätzt über 1000 Briefe und Karten mit Motiv-Marken “Flugzeug und Raumfahrt”. Erstflüge usw., zusammen in zwei großen Kartons