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Huge collection of special stamps and commemorative booklets could fetch £10,000 at auction

A large collection of special Great Britain stamps and commemorative booklets could total £10,000 at auction next month.

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Accumulated over 30 years and consigned following a house clearance in Streetly, the archive features across 19 lots with Richard Winterton Auctioneers at The Tamworth Auction Rooms on Wednesday, July 10, starting at 9.30am.

The collection includes First Day Covers, presentation packs and prestige booklets, spanning 30 years of GB decimal stamps up until the 2010s with many duplicates.

There are miniature sheets, greetings booklets, barcode booklets and numerous ‘Smilers’ sheets – the name given to a sheet of personalised stamps – and a collection of ‘gutter pairs’ including early ones from 1972 right up until around 2018.

A gutter block is one where the pairs are separated by a gutter margin dividing the stamps into separate panes.

Subjects of the prestige booklets include James Bond, Star Trek, Marvel, Game Of Thrones, Harry Potter and Paul McCartney.

Phil Ives, philately specialist for Richard Winterton Auctioneers, said: “It’s a massive collection of GB modern first day covers, presentation packs and prestige booklets, most duplicated right up to the late 2010s. There’s every special or commemorative booklet spanning the last 30 years.

“The magpie in me was drawn to one colourful box – it contained more than 200 mint condition prestige booklets which are themselves worth £1,100.”

Subjects of the prestige booklets include James Bond, Star Trek, Marvel, DC Comics, Game of Thrones, Harry Potter, Paul McCartney and Queen.

Philately specialist Phil Ives with some of the collection.

Others celebrate milestones such as 200 years of Leonardo Da Vinci, the centenary of the RAF, the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, the Industrial Revolution and the unsung heroic women of World War Two.

Mr Ives added: “This is an impressive accumulation to be going under the hammer and a great opportunity for collectors in this particular field of philately.”

The July 10 sale at The Tamworth Auction Rooms in Church Street also includes vintage toys, medals and militaria. The catalogue can be viewed online a week before the auction at richardwinterton.co.uk/auction-dates.

Viewing in person at takes place on Tuesday, July 9, by appointment from 10am to 4pm – to book, telephone 01827 217746 or email tamworth@richardwinterton.co.uk.

Phil Ives’s next stamps valuations take place by appointment at The Lichfield Auction Centre, Wood End Lane, Fradley Park, on July 1 and August 7 – telephone 01543 251081 or email office@richardwinterton.co.uk.

Free home visits for large collections, house clearance quotations or valuations for other types of item may also be arranged.

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