Veteran Auctioneer Sees Huge Changes In Almost 50 Years Of Stamp Auctions

When John Mowbray conducted his first stamp auction in 1974, he worked off foolscap newsprint sheets with lot details he had typed himself. After more than 55 years his business has evolved from selling stamp packs of first day covers into the internationally renowned stamp and coin dealership that he heads today, based in Otaki.

He says that Covid Lockdowns in the past two years have had an interesting effect on stamp collecting: ”people have had more time on their hands to re-ignite interest in former hobbies or to simply sift through what they may have forgotten they have in the attic. This resulting rise in enquiry has increased our business by 30 per cent in the last twelve months.”

After public viewing on Thursday and Friday, John Mowbray will conduct his 75th public stamp auction at Wellington’s West Plaza Hotel with current Covid social distancing protocols in place.

“Two items stand out as very interesting in this event,” John Mowbray says. “Arguably, New Zealand’s rarest stamp is in this international event. “The twelve and six-penny long type Queen Victoria stamp has an estimated value of $50,000, and being an international event anything could happen on the day in terms of an outcome.”

Another interesting New Zealand stamp with a pre-auction estimate of $25,000 comes to this auction from an interesting twist in our country’s history. The threepenny ‘Vanguard” was produced for the impending 1949 visit of King George the Sixth, the Queen’s father. The visit never went ahead due to the King’s ill health (he died in February 1952) and the stamps were consigned to the furnace. However, it is believed that one sheet escaped that fate and Lot 514, ‘1949 Royal Visit Vanguard’ is one of those extremely rare stamps.

“When I look back over that 1974 run sheet today, I realise that the auction methods have changed dramatically, although rare stamps have stood the harsh test of time and remained a very viable investment channel as well as being an absorbing and satisfying hobby,” John Mowbray says.

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