Warwick and Warwick are delighted to announce the sale of a true philatelic icon, the 1919 Newfoundland Hawker!
Produced by the postmaster at the time, J.A. Robinson, a sheet of 200 of the 3c Brown Caribou was overprinted ‘First Trans-Atlantic Air Post April, 1919’ and was intended to commemorate the attempt made by Lieutenant H. Hawker. As well as the overprint, the reverse of each issue bears the postmaster’s hand-signed initials J.A.R.. Of the 200 produced, Stanley Gibbons notes that 18 were damaged or destroyed, 95 were used on letters, 11 were given as presentation copies, and 76 were sold in aid of the Marine Disasters Fund. Which means this is one of only 87 possible mint examples, with likely fewer surviving to this day!
This example is to be offered as lot 82a in our January philatelic auction with an estimate of £10,000 and is accompanied by a 1978 Friedl Expert Committee certificate signed by Herbert J. Bloch, who has also signed the reverse of the stamp.
To see further details of this lot and the rest of the sale, the full auction catalogue is available to view on Easy Live Auction and our website, which also has details on how to place commission bids and how to bid live. Be sure to follow our Instagram and Facebook for updates and all our latest auction news.
