Gandhi 1969 Cameroun - One of a kind on Cover

Cameroun, Gandhi Centenary Issue.


First Day Covers are sporadically available on various auction sites including ebay and they do command a premium. In all I have seen around half dozen sales, bidding is intense and the price has always varied from US $300 to US $450. I have never understood the justification for such a high price.

There are 4 known varities of this pair. Please fee free to correct me if I am wrong on this.

1. Without the overprint

2. With overprint

3. Inverted overprint

4. Imperforate Gutter pair.

Recently, a commercially used cover surfaced on ebay. I had never seen such an item and probably will never see it again. What are the odds of this kind of an item re-appearing in an auction? The collector who bought it will never sell it privately or through an auction.

Having said that, the price of this cover did not exceed that of the FDC. Strange are the ways of collectors and bidders. Looking at the recent hammer prices in Germany on Gandhi Philatelic collectibles, no one can tell it has anything to do with the global economic slowdown. The exchange rates have been volatile and even Stanley Gibbons was forced to mark down some of it's items which is kind of unheard of within the collecting community. In the first quarter alone, I must have received at least two postal mails from them which I think is pretty extreme considering the fact that I have purchased only once from them in my 25 years of collecting. One can only wonder what would have transpired with their investment department.

I think I leave the investment for another day. For now enjoy the cover, brought to you courtesy of an ebay auction.

Gandhi 1950 Handpainted Essay - One of a kind

This one of a kind Essay appeared in an auction by David Feldman SA - on October 2-6, 2008 Auction. Lot# 60051. I would be curious to know how much it sold for.

INDIA - 1950 Unique Handpainted gandhi Essay 1950 Inauguration of the Republic issue, 4a Blue hand-painted essay on card, beleived to be the unique essay with a gandhi design created by De La Rue, illustrated on front cover of a Robson Lowe 1979 auction catalogue Estimate: €8'000 - €12'000

If anyone has any historic information or story about this Essay, please do share. Again this is Archival Material.

I don't think this item adds any value to one's collection. However, it is a must have if you have the kind of money it commands. As long as the auction houses exist on this planet, recovery of investment is also gauranteed. It probably will never see the light of the day and will remains in the confines of someone's fireproof safe.

What a waste!!!!

Gandhi 1969 - Fiji Cancel

Fiji was one of the countries that had issued a special cancel commemorating the centenary of Birth of Mahatma Gandhi. Little is known about this cancel as to how many postal mails were ever cancelled and which post offices were issuing it.

Left: (1) Fiji to New Zealand - 02-Oct-1969

Right: (2) Sent Locally From Suva, Fiji to Suva, Fiji on 03-Sept-1969

To make a quick buck, there are people who have made this into a DIY (Do-it-Yourself) hobby as it's called here in USA. Needless to say, forgeries are rampant and quite sparingly available, the price varies from US$ 50 to US$ 200 depending on who is buying. Like they say in Hindi in Mumbai, "Giryak dekh ke poodi(pan) banata hai".

Left: (3) Cancel on a piece of paper - 22-Sept-1969. Probably a remnant of a cover.

I have attached 3 different cancels and would like you to judge and identify the forgery or forgeries. Please leave a comment on this blog and also provide your reasoning behind it. As I get handful of comments, I will compile and publish the results along with my take on it. By the way I do own one of these cancels.

Individuals who correctly identify each as a forgery or genuine will get a Gandhi philatelic item of my choice.

Gandhi 1969 - One Of A Kind - Hungary - Imperforate used on cover

To commemorate the centenary of Birth of Gandhi, Hungary was one of the countries that had issued a postage stamp on Gandhi.

The attached example is rare usage of the imperforate on cover. The stamp itself is quite common and does not command a premium unlike the one from Germany. One can buy this stamp of ebay for less than US $10.

This cover recently appeared in an auction in Hungary and sold for approx US$ 400.

Priced on a moderately higher side, but a unique cover that could be very nice to have in one's collection.

Update: 03/15/09.

It seems there is only one sheet of 60 error stamps known to exist. This is the only known use on a cover which is extremely rare. Recently a certified copy of the error stamp showed up on ebay for Euros 2222.22 which is about US $2685.00

Gandhi 1969 - One Of A Kind - Germany Imperforate used on cover

Gandhi 1969 - Germany Imperforate used on Cover.
One of a kind.

To commemorate the centenary of Birth of Gandhi, Germany was one of the countries that had issued a postage stamp on Gandhi.

This is one of the rare examples of this stamp on a cover. It seems it is the only known usage of this on cover.

The imperforate stamp itself is quite common. However it does command a premium. I do not have the exact count of how many imperforate stamps are in existance. If anyone has a guesstimate, I would love to hear from you.

The last sale price of this item - Euros 3500.
and Ah!!! I do not own this item. From my perspective, I don't see any value addition in my Gandhi Collection.