“Yes,” says Roy Hamilton-Bowen of Rodgau Philatelie, Eisenbahn Strasse 8, in the German city of Rodgau. “Irish Stamps with German Quality” is his business motto, and the logo of his Web site www.hibernian-news.eu is a green stamp emblazoned with a harp, an Irish symbol that dates back to the 13th century.
Hamilton-Bowen is a native New Yorker who grew up internationally, in London and Paris. He started collecting postage stamps when he was in his teens. His fascination with Irish stamps began after spending time on the Emerald Isle.
In the late 1970s Hamilton-Bowen began working for a stamp business from New York City. He picked up a little German language along the way and ended up working full time for the company in Dublin. “I specialized in helping the German customers,” he said.
In 1985, the year the Value Added Tax (VAT) increased from 10 to 25 percent, the business overextended credit to a German customer and went into liquidation. Hamilton- Bowen decided to seize the opportunity and start his own Irish postage stamp business in Rodgau.
His auctions are online and by catalog, but he has long since given up collecting. “An important client would come along and I would end up dipping into my own collection to meet their needs,” he said.
Rodgau Philatelie’s auction, which closes May 22, features 715 lots of Irish stamps and postal history, with a presale reserve totaling almost a quarter of a million Euro.
Of special interest is Lot 333, a 1935 re-engraved 10/-with overprint double in superb mint condition, starting at 6000 Euro; Lot 124, a registered cover with mixed overprint franking including the Dollard 1/2d with inverted overprint, starting at 3000 Euro; and Lot 105, the first example of the scarce “SLIGO” forerunner to come on the market in many years, starting at 2500.
“For me, I find the 1922-1923 Irish provisional overprints most interesting,” said Hamilton-Bowen.
His years of interest and expertise in these stamps recently brought him a top honor in the stamp-collecting world. His article on Irish Provisional Overprints was published in the March issue of the London Philatelist.
“For me, that’s as good as it gets,” said Hamilton-Bowen.
Rodgau Philatelie may be contacted at +49 6106 3023. Their next auction, with Internet live bidding provided by LiveAuctioneers.com, will be held on May 24, 2010 and contains more than 700 lots with combined starting prices of almost a quarter-million Euro.
Lauritz.com
Welcome to new LiveAuctioneers client, the Dusseldorf auction house of wwwLauritz.com. Lauritz Christensen Auctions, one of the oldest auction houses in Denmark, has 18 locations in Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Germany. It was the first Danish auction house to provide online auctions. Their Web site currently features some sumptuous modern furniture by Charles Eames and Arne Jacobson, but they have objects of fine Modern design in every category.
Leipzig Buchmesse Attracts 156,000
Record numbers of visitors enjoyed the 2010 Leipzig Buchmesse. This marked the 16th year for the Antiquariatsmesse in Hall 3, with 69 dealers from Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Sweden and Finland.
“It’s a wonderful fair,” noted Michael Melzer from Melzers Antiquarium in Lüdenscheid. “Even non-collectors are coming here, asking questions and buying.”
Demonstrations in Hall 3 in age-old book printing techniques by the Leipzig Buchkunst Museum and the Gutenberg Museum, Mainz, made the antiquarian book experience complete.
The next Leipzig Buchmesse is slated for March 17-20, 2011. For details about the Antiquariatsmesse, visit www.Abooks.de
Upcoming Auctions
Galerie Bassenge, Berlin (Grunewald):
Spring Auctions: Art including prints, paintings, drawings and modern art, June 3-5; print graphics from the 15th to 18th century and ornamental papers, June 3; print graphics of the 19th century and miscellaneous prints, June 3; Old and New Master paintings June 4; Drawings from the 15th to 19th century June 4; Modern Art part II June 5. www.bassenge.com.
Villa Grisebach, Zürich:
Classic and contemporary photography June 3; selected works June 4; contemporary art, June 4; art of the 19th, 20th and 21st century June 5. Third Floor – Estimates to 3000 Euro, June 5. www.villa-grisebach.de
Galerie Widmer Auktionen AG, St. Gallen, Switzerland:
Selected Works 2101 – June 4. www.galeriewidmer.com
Lot 60 – Adolf Dietrich (1877 – 1977), Grünspecht auf Föhrenast, 1955. Oil on card stock. Estimate: 80,000- 55,000 Swiss Franks. (Photo courtesy Galerie Widmer).
Schmidt Kunstauktionen, Dresden:
24th Art Auction – art work from the 17th – 21st century, June 12. www.schmidt-auktionen.de
Sotheby’s Zürich:
Swiss art from the 19th century – June 14. www.sothebys.com
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An American freelance writer, Heidi Lux grew up near Rochester, N.Y., and is a graduate of that city’s Nazareth College. She presently lives in Saxony, Germany, where she works as an English language editor and private tutor. Her work has appeared in Transitions Abroad and German Life magazines, as well as Style Century Magazine.
