HONG KONG.- Zurich Asia achieved excellent results in its Spring 2019 Auctions held on 30 and 31 March at Harbour Plaza North Point Hotel in Hong Kong. The two-day series sales offered over 3,000 lots of philatelic treasures, banknotes and coins.

There was enormous interest for an outstanding selection of stamps of the Liberated Areas and the People’s Republic of China offered in the sale. The star lot was 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 which realized HK$1,150,000 (US$147,436), selling to a collector in the saleroom.

An exceptional, unused 1968 8 fen stamp of Chairman Mao’s inscription to a Japanese labour friend was highly sought-after and sold for HK$552,000 (US$70,769) after spirited bidding.

Bidding was active for a 1968 8 fen “The Whole Country is Red” stamp in very fine condition with no apparent fault or repair which fetched HK$333,500 (US$42,756) above its high estimate.

Another highlight was an 1880 (1 Apr.) incoming cover mailed from Lurgan in North Ireland to Imperial Customs Peking, addressed to William Hancock, selling for a strong price of HK$575,000 (US$73,718). 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.

The private collection of world-renowned philatelist Patrick Choy, featuring Gold and Silver Yuan stamps of the Liberated Areas, was highly coveted by philatelic connoisseurs. It comprises many unique postal history items covering the end of the civil war in China.

A highlight of this unique collection was a letter that missed the airmail service in Sinkiang but caught up with newly resumed Chinese People’s Post airmail service which achieved HK$161,000 (US$20,641), well above the pre-sale high estimate. It is the only recorded example of the cover with a combination of Sinkiang Silver and Gold Yuan stamps.

There was competitive bidding for 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 which realized HK$126,500 (US$16,218), more than doubling the high-estimate.