- David Feldman (philatelist)
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David Feldman (b. Dublin, 1947) is a professional philatelist, author and auctioneer, chairman of David Feldman SA, a Geneva based philatelic auction company that has attained record prices for some of the most famous postage stamps of the world. In 1993 Feldman auctioned the "Bordeaux Letter" with both the 1d Orange-red and the 2d Deep Blue "Post Office" Mauritius stamps on cover; this brought 5,750,000 Swiss Francs[1] (roughly $4 million USD, GB£ 2.64 million),[2] the highest price ever paid for any philatelic item.[3][4]
Contents
Ireland
His early life was in Dublin, Ireland, where he started a stamp exchange scheme with school classmates at eight years of age. By 1958 this had become The Shamrock Stamp Club, a mail order sales business promoted by advertising in Mickey Mouse comics. Irish philately was his speciality; the first specialised stamp catalogue, Stamps of Ireland debuted in 1964 and in 1967 he held his first specialised Irish stamp auction. When the Handbook of Irish Philately was published in 1968, Feldman presented a copy to the President of Ireland, Éamon de Valera.
By the 1970s, a bullish stamp market led to a great increase in stamp prices; so much so, that Feldman states: "You just could not get enough stamps to sell." During this period he started David Feldman Ltd., became an auctioneer and philatelic author, and published the DF Newsletter, an Irish philatelic publication along with other specialised books. He also promoted three public stamp exhibitions in Dublin before becoming chairman of Stampa 1972, the first Irish National Stamp Exhibition.[5] David Feldman was a member of the Irish Minister for Posts and Telegraphs' Philatelic Advisory Committee from 1975–1981 with Robson Lowe and other distinguished philatelists.[5]
Switzerland
World record priced Treskilling Yellow auctioned for $2.2 million in 1996 by David Feldman
Later, having met a Swiss girl who was on a cycling holiday to Ireland, he moved to Switzerland in 1973.[6] He has continued to operate as a stamp auctioneer and publisher since then, starting a new auction business and running his first auction there in 1976.[5] Some of the record prices achieved by David Feldman SA have been for the Swedish Treskilling Yellow ($2.2 million in 1996), for which his photo appeared in the Guinness Book of World Records, and the Mauritius Two Pence Blue ($1.4 million in 1993) stamps.
In 1997, David Feldman was invited to sign the Irish Roll of Distinguished Philatelists for his support and contributions to Irish philately. David auctioned off one of his personal collections in May 2003; The 'Emerald' Collection of Destination Mail of the World contained mail to and from Ireland dating from 1714–1913 accumulated over about forty years. The collection realised around $2 million.[7]
Two auctions have been surrounded by some controversy. The disposal of the United Nations Stamp Archive in May 2003 for more than $3 million was still under investigation in 2006 and "may well have taken place without the permissions required by the regulations of the U.N. Secretariat for the disposal of such important U.N. property" because no official consent forms seem to exist as required under Secretariat 1991 rules for the disposal of archival material. The material was the archive United Nations Postal Administration, UNPA, apparently regarded as surplus to the requirements of the UN Postal Museum. The purchase of the complete archive as one auction lot by Arthur Morowitz, CEO of Champion Stamp Collection,[8] and the subsequent sale of a small portion of the archive by Greg Manning Auctions, for about $1.2 million considerably more than the original Feldman sale raised questions about the disposal. There has not been any allegation of impropriety on Feldman's part.[9]
Part of the Hélio Courvoisier, Swiss stamp printing company, archive auctioned in April 2007 by Feldman included five lots of San Marino imperforate stamps, drawings and print proofs. The San Marino philatelic bureau expressed their surprise that these items appeared at auction because "archives prove that Hélio Courvoisier SA had destroyed all the print proofs and other print material relating to our products". They allege the material "may belong to the Republic of San Marino" or "may have dubious origin." Feldman assured Stamp & Coin Mart that the consignor had both the title and right to sell the material.[10]
Publications
(incomplete list)
- Feldman, David (1968). Handbook of Irish Philately. Dublin, Ireland: David Feldman Ltd & the Dolman Press Ltd.
- Feldman, David (1970). Stamps of Ireland, Price List. Dublin, Ireland: David Feldman Ltd.
- Feldman, David (1973). Ireland - Railway Letter Stamps - Price List. Dublin, Ireland: David Feldman Ltd.
- Feldman, David (c 1975). The Revenue Stamps of Ireland. Dublin, Ireland: David Feldman Ltd.
- Feldman, David (1974). Stamps of Ireland, Illustrated Catalogue. Dublin, Ireland: David Feldman Ltd.
- Feldman, David; Kane, William (1975). Handbook of Irish Postal History to 1840. David Feldman Ltd, Dublin, Ireland. ISBN 0950261912.
- Feldman, David (1976). Stamps of Ireland, Illustrated Catalogue. Dublin, Ireland: David Feldman Ltd.
- Numerous specialised and general auction catalogues
See also
- Zimbrulu Vulturulu
References
- ^ Total price paid by seller includes buyers 15% commission — hammer price was 5 million Swiss Francs
- ^ Prices Realised: Public Auction November 1–6, November 1993. David Feldman SA. November 1993. pp. p 3
- ^ Watkins, David (2004-02-03). "Stamp Of Greatness". South China Morning Post. pp. C5–C6. Archived from the original on 2007-02-03. http://web.archive.org/web/20070203200659/http://www.davidfeldman.com/PDF_2003/China_Stamp_Greatness.pdf. Retrieved 2007-07-21.
- ^ "The Bordeaux Letter", Encyclopaedia Mauritiana
- ^ a b c Feldman, David (February 2003). The "Emerald" Collection of Destination Mail of the World. Geneva, Switzerland: David Feldman SA. pp. 10–11.
- ^ Feldman, David (February 2003). The "Emerald" Collection of Destination Mail of the World. Geneva, Switzerland: David Feldman SA. pp. 6.
- ^ "Prices Realised May 2003" (pdf). David Feldman SA. Archived from the original on 2007-02-03. http://web.archive.org/web/20070203200226/http://www.davidfeldman.com/PR/031/pr_031.pdf. Retrieved 2007-07-21.
- ^ "Champion Sells United Nations Postal Archives". Championstamp.com. http://www.championstamp.com/unarchives.htm. Retrieved 2007-07-23.
- ^ Russell, George; Claudia Rosett (2006-04-26). "United Nations Probes Sale of Irreplaceable Stamp Archive". FOX News. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,193181,00.html. Retrieved 2007-07-23.
- ^ "San Marino ‘astonished’ at stamp sale". Stamp & Coin Mart. 2006-04-26. http://72.14.205.104/search?q=cache:45pU4P0cBHIJ:www.stampmart.co.uk/news/san.asp+%22david+feldman%22+philately. Retrieved 2007-07-23.
External links
Categories:- Auctioneers
- 1947 births
- Living people
- Stamp dealers
- Irish philatelists
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