The main focus of our 10th public auction, which will be held on Saturday 28 May at Palazzo Giureconsulti in Milan, will be the Italian Area, with an exceptional selection of stamps and covers of Italian States, including several world-class rarities, in particular from Lombardy-Veneto, Sicily and Sardinia. We would like to point out:
SARDINIA
Lot. 310 - 1851 - Fantastic set of the I issue composed by a block of four of the 5c black; a block of six, with corner sheet, of the 20c light and a block of four of the 40c carmine pink, lower sheet margin. All the stamps are new with full original gum, the 20c is the greates exhisting block beyond the full sheet at the Postal Museum and the block of twenty in the Bolaffi collection. Sassone evaluates the set over € 825.000, starting price will be € 60.000.
Lot. 345 - 1859 - IV issue 20c light blue in mixed "twin values" franking with a 20c light blue "Empire" of France, (Yvert 14) on cover sent from S.Jean de Maurienne on 16 August 1859 to Damazan. Cancellation "S.JEAN DE MAUR 16 AOUT 59" and lozenge "GM1°" of the Travelling Post Office "GENEVE A MACON 17 AOUT 59" on the franking, with "P.D." black italic Sardinian and "PP" framed in red on the envelope front. Cover sent by a soldier of the Armées des Alpes who fought alongside the Piedmontese in the Second War of Italian Independence. Exceptional and very rare mixed France-Sardinia issue, of which only a few cases are known. Starting price € 50.000
SICILY
Lot. 388 - 1859 - 50grana dark brown violet lake, and 5grana carmine I table on cover cancelled with horse-shoe from "MESSINA 16 MAG° 1859" to Genoa where it arrived on 20 May 1859 by means of the French Postal Steamers. Taxed on arrival for 4/10 of a Lira (double the Sardinian rate). Very rare the colour shade of the 50gr. The cover is superb, the two stamps present large margins. Starting price: € 25.000
SARDINIA
Lot. 310 - 1851 - Fantastic set of the I issue composed by a block of four of the 5c black; a block of six, with corner sheet, of the 20c light and a block of four of the 40c carmine pink, lower sheet margin. All the stamps are new with full original gum, the 20c is the greates exhisting block beyond the full sheet at the Postal Museum and the block of twenty in the Bolaffi collection. Sassone evaluates the set over € 825.000, starting price will be € 60.000.
Lot. 345 - 1859 - IV issue 20c light blue in mixed "twin values" franking with a 20c light blue "Empire" of France, (Yvert 14) on cover sent from S.Jean de Maurienne on 16 August 1859 to Damazan. Cancellation "S.JEAN DE MAUR 16 AOUT 59" and lozenge "GM1°" of the Travelling Post Office "GENEVE A MACON 17 AOUT 59" on the franking, with "P.D." black italic Sardinian and "PP" framed in red on the envelope front. Cover sent by a soldier of the Armées des Alpes who fought alongside the Piedmontese in the Second War of Italian Independence. Exceptional and very rare mixed France-Sardinia issue, of which only a few cases are known. Starting price € 50.000
SICILY
Lot. 388 - 1859 - 50grana dark brown violet lake, and 5grana carmine I table on cover cancelled with horse-shoe from "MESSINA 16 MAG° 1859" to Genoa where it arrived on 20 May 1859 by means of the French Postal Steamers. Taxed on arrival for 4/10 of a Lira (double the Sardinian rate). Very rare the colour shade of the 50gr. The cover is superb, the two stamps present large margins. Starting price: € 25.000