FindYourStampsValue.com hurries to let all stamp enthusiasts know that InterAsia Auctions recently sold the earliest known cover bearing Imperial China stamps for the unbelievable price of $2.43 million, setting a new record in Chinese philately. The auction took place on June 16 in Hong Kong and this staring lot was part of the Jane and Dan Sten Olsson collection of Large Dragons, the name given to the first stamp issue of Imperial China.
The Large Dragon Cover was a real star during this sale. It is the earliest recorded envelope with Large Dragons - the 5 October 1878 envelope from Peking to Shanghai bearing a 5ca. pair and single. The fierce battle evolved between two determined phone bidders. As a result the lot fetched more than double that of any Chinese philatelic item ever sold at public auction. Although this is a record sum for Chinese philately, worldwide it is still eclipsed by the 1847 Mauritius Bordeaux cover, which in 1993 was sold at auction for $3,829,500 by David Feldman in Zurich, Switzerland.
The auction confirmed the fact that Chinese and Hong Kong stamps and postal history is very popular worldwide. The philatelic material from this country handles the finest, rarest and most desirable items as well as presenting the largest, broadest and most comprehensive auctions of the areas.
