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Auctionbytes-Update, Number 16 - June 17, 2000 - ISSN 1528-6703
Collector's Corner
1) Million Dollar Baseball Card?
By Wayne Tuiskula
At a June 6th press conference in New York, officials of eBay and Robert Edward Auctions announced that the most famous baseball card in the world was going to be auctioned on eBay from July 1-15. This is the same T206 Honus Wagner card that I discussed in an earlier AuctionBytes column on Baseball tobacco cards (http://www.auctionbytes.com/Email_Newsletter/8/8.html#sports). Other T206 Honus Wagner cards have surfaced on the market but not in this condition. As mentioned in the previous column, it was once owned by hockey great Wayne Gretzky and later was the prize in a Wal-Mart contest, before being auctioned to a Chicago investment advisor, Michael Gidwitz. Gidwitz approached Rob Lifson of Robert Edward auctions about selling the card.
Lifson believes that the market for the card is much stronger than when Gidwitz purchased it 4 years ago. Lifson stated: "I'd be surprised if it didn't bring more than $1 million. That seems reasonable". Keep your on eBay in July to see if he's right. There is one additional note. To screen out bidders who aren't serious, they have stipulated the bidders must be approved by Robert Edward Auctions and need to set up a $100,000 escrow account.
2) Stamp News
By Ina Steiner
Star Trek Stamps Signed by Leonard Nimoy & William Shatner to Be Auctioned
The U.S. Postal Service will auction one-of-a-kind philatelic collectibles on eBay. The online sale, coinciding with the World Stamp Expo 2000, is scheduled to begin July 7 and end July 16. The auction lots will consist of over 40 unique and limited-edition philatelic items that are framed and numbered. All items can be previewed online beginning Monday, June 19, on both http://www.usps.com and http://www.ebay.com.
Highlights of the offering include:
- A full press sheet of Marilyn Monroe stamps signed by the stamp designer
- A full press sheet of James Dean stamps signed by the stamp designer
- An enlargement of the Supersonic Flight stamp image with a plate of four stamps, signed by Chuck Yeager
- Two Star Trek stamp cachets (#1/5000 and #1701/5000) signed by Leonard Nimoy and William Shatner (1701 was the Enterprise's number)
World Stamp Expo Scheduled for Next Month in California
The World Stamp Expo 2000 will be held July 7-16 at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, Calif. Admission is free. Space Achievement and Exploration is the overall theme of the Expo, as Space has proven to be one of the world's most popular stamp subjects.
World Stamp Expo 2000 represents only the second time the United States Postal Service has hosted an international philatelic conference. The other was held in Washington, DC, in 1989. World Stamp Expo 2000 will be open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily. Admission is free, and parking is available at the Anaheim Convention Center for a nominal fee.
For more information, go to http://www.usps.com or http://www.worldstampexpo.com.
First Circular and Pentagonal Stamps to Be Issued Next Month
The nation's first hologram, circular and pentagonal U.S. postage stamps will be issued at the World Stamp Expo2000 in California. The Space Achievement and Exploration circular hologram stamp opens the show July 7 at a 10 a.m. first day of issue ceremony. This Express Mail rate ($11.75) stamp features a hologram of Earth, based on images supplied by NASA.
On July 8 a second hologram stamp will be issued at a noon first day ceremony. The $11.75 Landing on the Moon stamp features a hologram of a lunar lander, based on computer images and a three-dimensional model from NASA. The stamp is part of a larger souvenir sheet depicting a photograph of astronaut Charles M. Duke Jr., taken by astronaut John W. Young during the Apollo 16 mission in April 1972.
The Escaping the Gravity of Earth hologram stamps will be issued July 9 at noon. These two Priority Mail rate ($3.20) stamps feature holograms of the International Space Station.
July 11 marks the first day for five Exploring the Solar System stamps, the first pentagonally shaped stamps in U.S. history. These $1 stamps present the following views of the sun: an image of a solar eclipse from a satellite, an illustrated cutaway view, a digitally restored NASA image of sunrise from space, an image of a solar eruption taken by Skylab on Dec. 19, 1973, and a photo from Earth of the sun in a partly cloudy sky. The souvenir sheet depicts a montage of Saturn and several of its moons, imaged by Voyager 1 in November 1980.
All 15 Space Achievement and Exploration stamps will be available at the World Stamp Expo 2000 show (see below) and at Anaheim post offices beginning on each respective first day of issue and, starting the following day, at authorized philatelic centers (located at larger post offices), Postal Stores, online at http://www.stampsonline.com and by calling toll-free 1 800 STAMP-24. Pre-orders are currently being accepted only through 1 800 STAMP-24.
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