Sotheby's presentation of the Stuart Weitzman Collection is just phenomenal

Zoins

After watching the Sotheby's video and reading the article, I just need to say...

The way this collection is being presented is just phenomenal.

We talk about coins being appreciated as art to attain the next level of value. This is presented like art.

We talk about grades not mattering for unique coins. None of these items are graded and they are all shown raw.

The Sotheby's presentation is like dining at a French Restaurant, and going back in time.

Perhaps this is to be expected as Weitzman is a designer. It is a wonderful experience.

Click through, watch the video, and read the article.

https://www.sothebys.com/en/digital-catalogues/three-treasures-collected-by-stuart-weitzman

What a great intro showing the collection being walked in via a briefcase.

Did Stuart write his stylized initials on the world's most valuable stamp?

The most valuable US stamp is "printed in Red, White, and Blue, what more could you ask?"

Like Cardinal holding his top coin raw.

What a nice set. It really is like sitting down and being served at a French restaurant.

Zoins

What is also amazing is that the proceeds are going to charity:

https://www.barrons.com/articles/stuart-weitzman-selling-three-treasures-to-benefit-charities-01615493809

Fashion mogul Stuart Weitzman will offer three pieces from his personal collection at a Sotheby’s New York auction in June, with proceeds benefiting the foundations, universities, and museums he supports.
...
The three treasures will be sold at a dedicated live auction at Sotheby’s New York on June 8. All of the seller’s proceeds will benefit charitable ventures, including The Weitzman Family Foundation, which supports medical research and higher education such as the Stuart Weitzman School of Design at the University of Pennsylvania, as well as a museum in Madrid, the first of its kind, devoted to Spanish Judaica.

This reminds me of Ellis H. (Roby) Robison selling his collection via Stack's and donating the proceeds to 4 universities he supported for a long time: Rennselaer Polytechnic Institute, Cornell University, Brown University, and Russell Sage College.

ricko

Wow... what awesome items.....and generous donations. Cheers, RickO

DCW

"Carrying on the tradition of previous owners of the British Guiana, Weitzman added his own personal mark to the reverse of the stamp this past October, inscribing his initials “SW” along with a line drawing of a stiletto shoe as a nod to his legacy in fashion."

I find this wholly unappealing. I am not a stamp collector nor a shoe collector for that matter, but I would not want Mr. Weitzman's initials nor his stiletto shoe emblem on my treasure.
Is this kind of thing acceptable with stamps? Can you imagine if people scribbled on comic books or paper currency? (Short sorters aside.)

The stamp's history is fascinating, and it will certainly be the jewel of the auction for someone. However, to my eyes it is rather plain. First, the detail of the stamp itself is hard to make out. Second, the boy who found it lopped off all four corners. And now, the owner has sketched a shoe on the back.

I'd stick with the '33 DE (if I had an extra $15mil laying around)

Zoins

@DCW said:
"Carrying on the tradition of previous owners of the British Guiana, Weitzman added his own personal mark to the reverse of the stamp this past October, inscribing his initials “SW” along with a line drawing of a stiletto shoe as a nod to his legacy in fashion."

I find this wholly unappealing. I am not a stamp collector nor a shoe collector for that matter, but I would not want Mr. Weitzman's initials nor his stiletto shoe emblem on my treasure.
Is this kind of thing acceptable with stamps? Can you imagine if people scribbled on comic books or paper currency? (Short sorters aside.)

The stamp's history is fascinating, and it will certainly be the jewel of the auction for someone. However, to my eyes it is rather plain. First, the detail of the stamp itself is hard to make out. Second, the boy who found it lopped off all four corners. And now, the owner has sketched a shoe on the back.

I'd stick with the '33 DE (if I had an extra $15mil laying around)

I can't find any information to confirm previous collectors added their signature to this stamp.

E.T.E. Dalton, the postmaster that ordered this stamp created had a policy of having all stamps signed by the post office clerk to guard against forgeries. This stamp is signed E.D.W. by the clerk Edmond D. Wight. I don't see any information to indicate any other collector / owners added their signature to this stamp.

DCW

There does appear to be other signatures/graffiti

Zoins

@DCW said:
There does appear to be other signatures/graffiti

The provenance is available here. Perhaps they can be matched to the previous owners?

http://www.guyana.org/features/guyanastory/chapter110.html

It appears it would be a privilege to add one's own initials to it. It would certainly a different type of collecting than coin collectors are used to.

Imagine if he counterstamped the 1933 DE with his initials like William Forrester Dunham did for the his 1804 Class I dollar? The sale is still a few months away so I wonder if he'll get any ideas

tradedollarnut

Hmmmmm.....maybe an additional T and N ain’t such a bad idea after all...

OliverDePlaise

In my early collecting days I got some Farouk coins. He had them numbered in paint.

Eldorado9

I know these stamps are rare....But damn, I just don't see the attraction. Give me a nice big colorful proof coin from Eliasberg or James Stack....Or an original Gold proof set from the 1860's....But a piece of pink paper? With graffiti?

coinboynyc

Regarding the owners' marks on the back of the stamp: in certain circumstances, that is a thing.

From Sotheby's online catalogue description when they last auctioned the stamp in 2014:

"[T]he British Guiana was also highlighted in a 1954 Life magazine article called “Stamp Album Worth $1,000,000.” Evidently for the first time, the back of the stamp was illustrated in this article, revealing the ownership marks of Ferrary, Hind, and 'the present owner [whose] name … is one of the world’s best-kept secrets.'”

The link to the complete Sotheby's description is here. Be warned that if you're not into stamps, the description might be too detailed or specialized for your tastes.

panexpoguy

That stamp is a disaster, the signatures are the least of its problems. It has been horribly treated over the years.

messydesk

The "self-contained provenance" is also similar to what happens to some old orchestral scores and parts. They get signed and dated, with performance locations cited, by conductors or principal players when they're performed.

yspsales

Pulling for Queen Liz to buy this stamp.

Add crown graffiti to it...

OliverDePlaise

@panexpoguy said:
That stamp is a disaster, the signatures are the least of its problems. It has been horribly treated over the years.

When I was a kid, I would muse about finding another.
.............somewhere....
Kid musings are the best.

panexpoguy

@OliverDePlaise said:

@panexpoguy said:
That stamp is a disaster, the signatures are the least of its problems. It has been horribly treated over the years.

When I was a kid, I would muse about finding another.
.............somewhere....
Kid musings are the best.

I did too. I only had a black and white image to look at. Back then I collected aluminum cans to recycle to make money. I remember buying a plate block from the Overrun Countries series and feeling like I had a treasure.

RB1026

Expertly presented by Sotheby's. Thanks for sharing this @Zoins

It's like the "perfect storm" of collecting. To have three incredible rarities such as these offered simultaneously is mind boggling. There will always be another sale or auction that sets a record price. Those seem to come along every so often. However, this auction will be a true spectacle.

We may never see another like this. Amazing 1 of 1 rarities, offered by a single owner with the proceeds to benefit charitable endeavors. I'm just looking forward to watching it all unfold.

jmlanzaf

@panexpoguy said:
That stamp is a disaster, the signatures are the least of its problems. It has been horribly treated over the years.

It is, however, unique.

It has also been controversial.

jmlanzaf

@Eldorado9 said:
I know these stamps are rare....But damn, I just don't see the attraction. Give me a nice big colorful proof coin from Eliasberg or James Stack....Or an original Gold proof set from the 1860's....But a piece of pink paper? With graffiti?

Apples and oranges. The only coin you could reasonably compare that stamp to is the 33 DE.

Zoins

This is pretty neat:

Born in 1941, he was brought up in Haverhill Massachusetts where his father founded a shoe firm called Seymour's shoes - trading under the brand of 'Mr Seymour'. In 1965, after the death of his father, Stuart took over the family firm. Stuart Weitzman collected stamps as a child and – according to interviews – there were spaces in his stamp albums for the one cent magenta and the inverted jenny. Now he has bought them both!

http://www.thestampblog.com/stuart-weitzman.html

Zoins

Here's an excerpt from the Coin Collectors Blog:

Weitzman collected stamps as a child. As he collected, Weitzman became fascinated with very rare stamps. Although his collection is modest in size, it consists of two rarest stamps, the only surviving British Guiana One-Cent Magenta stamp and the 1918 24-Cent Inverted Jenny Plate Block stamps. Sotheby’s will be selling both stamps in an auction on June 8, 2021.

As part of the auction announcement, Sotheby’s revealed that Weitzman was also selling the only 1933 Saint Gaudens Double Eagle gold coin that is legal to own. It is the first time the identity of the coin’s owner is publicly known.

Stuart Weitzman was the winning bidder of the Sotheby/Stack’s auction held on July 30, 2002, held at the Sotheby’s headquarters in New York City. When the hammer fell, Weitzman anonymously purchased the coin for $6.6 million plus a 15-percent buyer’s premium. Sotheby’s famously paid the $20 face value to the U.S. Mint to monetize the coin. The final sale price was $7,590,020. At the time, it was almost twice the previous record paid for a coin.

Although there are other one-of-a-kind coins, none have the same story as the 1933 Farouk-Fenton Double Eagle. It is a unique story that could only be born out of the circumstances of the Great Depression and the documented corruption at the Philadelphia Mint.

http://coinsblog.ws/2021/03/who-is-stuart-weitzman.html

Zoins

Here's Stuart's website:

https://www.stuartweitzman.com/

OliverDePlaise

Was the Jenny printed on flat plates?
If I remember my foggy stamp past, I thought flat plate blocks were supposed to be collected in blocks of 6.

jmlanzaf

@OliverDePlaise said:
Was the Jenny printed on flat plates?
If I remember my foggy stamp past, I thought flat plate blocks were supposed to be collected in blocks of 6.

There was only one sheet of Jenny's. You get what you get based on Colonel Green's breaking up of the sheet. I think there is a block of 8

The corner blocks are usually collected in sixes because that centers the plate number under the middle stamp. In the plate blocks of 4, the plate number is under the end stamp.