In a fascinating event in Prague, a highly anticipated item from a recent auction has been sold for nearly 1.8 million Koruna, including fees. The auction, which concluded the exhibition of philatelic rarities, ‘Treasures of World Philately II,” saw a bidding war between two interested parties for a sheetlet from 1932 featuring Křivoklát Castle. The sheetlet was auctioned off for a million Koruna, as Patrik Kozlík, on behalf of the organizers, reported.
The purple stamp, worth 3.50 Koruna, is on a sheetlet with two symbols in between. According to the organizers, six or seven pieces have survived in such a form, including this one auctioned on Sunday, which still has a white margin on the left side. The standalone Křivoklát stamp is worth 50 Koruna, and combining two symbols with a coupon creates an exhibit with a million Koruna value.
The auction exceeded expectations with both in-person and online participation. Most items saw an increase in the auction amount. Domestic collectors are constantly interested in expanding their collections, just as investors are always looking for exciting things for their portfolios, said Petr Flaška, the owner of the auction portal Filatelie Flaška.
Another notable item was an inverted overprint stamp with the postmark ‘Počta československá’ from 1919. Auctioned off for a starting price of 500,000 Koruna, it is one of the rarest inverted overprints, with only three to five copies. However, an Italian stamp from 1860, of which only about five unused copies are known worldwide, failed to find a buyer at the starting price of 950,000 Koruna.
The auction was held on the final day of an exhibition that began on October 28 at the Municipal House. The value of the exhibited items exceeded half a billion Koruna. Visitors had the opportunity to learn about the history of stamps, some preserved last. The exhibition was organized by the Czech philatelic club Prestige Philately Club Prague (PPCP) in cooperation with guest clubs Vindobona and the famous philatelic organization Club de Monte-Carlo.