HONG KONG.- Zurich Asia announced its Hong Kong spring auction to be held on 30 & 31 March 2019 at the Harbour Plaza North Point Hotel, offering over 3,000 lots of rare philatelic treasures, banknotes and coins. The public preview will take place between 28 & 29 March from 10am to 6pm.

The auction will present an outstanding selection of stamps of the Liberated Areas and the People’s Republic of China. Taking the centre-stage is a rare complete sheet of 80 stamps of 8 fen from the 1980 Year of the Monkey (known as “Golden Monkey”) in fresh golden and vivid red colour, expected to fetch HK$1,000,000-1,100,000/ US$128,205-141,026.

Further highlights include an exceptional, unused 1968 8 fen stamp of Chairman Mao’s inscription to a Japanese labour friend. Estimated at HK$500,000-600,000/ US$64,103-76,923, this rare gem comes with a certificate issued by Experts & Consultants Limited in 2009. Also in the section is a 1968 8 fen “The Whole Country is Red” stamp in very fine condition with no apparent fault or repair (Estimate: HK$280,000-320,000/ US$35,897-41,026).

Some of the most sought-after Imperial stamps from the Qing Dynasty will be featured in the auction as well, highlighted by an 1893 Shanghai Local Post provisional woodchop handstamped and surcharged in blue 20 cents brown stamp. Erroneously surcharged as “HALF CENT” instead of “ONE CENT”, this is one of the only 6 copies with this surcharge error believed to exist in the world. The current offering is likely the best available copy amongst them that boasts an impeccable provenance of the renowned Beckeman Collection (Estimate: HK$400,000-450,000/ US$51,282-57,692).

Another important lot is an 1880 (1 Apr.) incoming cover mailed from Lurgan in North Ireland to Imperial Customs Peking, addressed to William Hancock (Estimate: HK$500,000-600,000/ US$64,103-76,923, Lot 508). The cover bears Great Britain QV Queen Victoria 1 penny lilac stamps in a strip of 3 and a pair, alongside a Large Dragon thin paper 3 candarins brown red stamp for domestic postage from Shanghai to Peking. The “HONG KONG/13.5.80” and “CUSTOMS/SHANGHAI/17.5.80” transit rings are both found on the reverse side.

A block of unused ten 1914 “Reaper” 50 cents green stamps with First Peking print from the Republic of China, imperforate vertically between the second and third pairs, is estimated at HK$400,000-500,000/ US$51,282-US$64,103 (Lot 652). This extremely rare block is a unique multiple with prestigious provenance of Beckeman collection.

Zurich Asia will present in this auction the private collection of world-renowned philatelist Patrick Choy, featuring Gold and Silver Yuan stamps of the Liberated Areas. The collection comprises many unique postal history items covering the end of the civil war in China.

A citizen of Singapore and currently the Vice President of the Association of Singapore Philatelists, Mr. Choy is a native of Taiwan born and raised in Hong Kong. He has served at various senior positions at Motorola Inc before retiring in July 2003 as the company’s Senior Corporate Vice President. In 2003, he was appointed as a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), the Upper House of the Chinese Parliament. Mr. Choy thus became the first multinational corporation executive appointed as a CPPCC member.

Mr. Choy was awarded gold medal in 2003 FIAP Stamps Exhibition and gold medal, as well as the Best in Class exhibit (Post Second World War) in 2004 FIP World Stamps Championship. Since then, he has won five Large Gold and 20 Gold medals in three different categories.

Highlights of this unique collection include:

• A letter that missed the airmail service in Sinkiang but caught up with newly resumed Chinese People’s Post airmail service. In August 1949, the airmail service was not available in Sinkiang under the control of Kuomintang. This letter was posted from Shufu, Kashgar on 18 August 1949. Due to the civil war in China, it took 158 days for this letter to reach Canton where the Chinese People’s post had just resumed international airmail service on 1 February 1950. Four days later, the letter was sent by airmail and finally arrived in Fulda, Germany on 18 February.

The current offering is the only recorded example of the cover with a combination of Sinkiang Silver and Gold Yuan stamps. Estimate: HK$80,000-100,000/ US$10,256-12,820 (Lot 3140)

• Mailed from from Lichwan to Kweilin, this 1949 Lichwan Hupeh Basic Stamp Cover is franked with two Hupeh 10 fen Basic stamps and two Hwa Nan Basic stamps, 1 fen and 4 fen one each. The total value of 25 fen stamps on the cover was equivalent to express registered rate. There are only seven Hupeh Basic Stamp covers recorded and this is the only cover from post liberation period. Estimate: HK$70,000-85,000/ US$8,974-10,897 (Lot 3024)

• A letter mailed from Tunki on 3 June 1949 and arrived in Nanking on 10 June, franked with four stamps of Tunki Surcharged on Dr. Sun Yat Sen RMB 1/$1 and two Wuhu Surcharge on Revenue RMB 10/50 fen stamps. Also franked on the cover was one Tunki Domestic Postage Paid Label, which would have a value of Silver Yuan 4 fen, the domestic surface mail postage. Estimate: HK$35,000-45,000/ US$4,487-5,770 (Lot 3149)