Lot 250, Auction 4/20/2026: Stamps & Air Mail – British Colonies, Oceania, & US

$325.00

In stock

Oceania; British Colonies; North America, United States, ca. late 19th to mid 20th century CE. A wide ranging and historically layered group of album pages featuring late 19th to mid 20th century postage stamps and air mail from Oceania and various British colonial territories. The collection includes material from Papua, British New Guinea, Papua and New Guinea, Fiji, the Cook Islands, Gilbert and Ellice Islands, and related Pacific administrations operating under British rule. Early engraved colonial issues appear alongside overprints, monarch portraits, and the celebrated Lakatoi canoe types of British New Guinea and Papua, their bold vignettes emblematic of imperial commerce and maritime identity. Mid century definitives and air mail stamps reflect the transformation of the Pacific into an aerial crossroads, with illustrated covers documenting transpacific routes. Notable among them is a 1941 first transpacific air mail flight from Suva, Fiji to Canton Island, bearing multiple frankings and period cancellations. Size of pages: 9.4″ W x 11.2″ H (23.9 cm x 28.4 cm)

Aerogrammes and commemorative issues further illustrate the evolution of postal communication across the region. Also included is a blue United States one cent postage stamp issued between 1857 and 1861 depicting Benjamin Franklin in profile, one of the classic early American definitive designs. Its engraved oval portrait and ornamental frame provide a striking counterpoint to the later Pacific and colonial material. Mounted and organized in album format, the lot presents a compact survey of British colonial presence in the Pacific, linking philately with the broader history of administration, trade, and aviation. A compelling archive for collectors of Commonwealth issues and early air mail history.

Condition: All in fine to mint condition. Some papers have expected age wear.

Provenance: private Sheffield, Massachusetts, USA collection, by inheritance, collected 1970’s

All items legal to buy/sell under U.S. Statute covering cultural patrimony Code 2600, CHAPTER 14, and are guaranteed to be as described or your money back.

A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany all purchases.

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