Press Releases

Smithsonian's National Postal Museum Receives Its Largest Donation from PIMCO's Founder Bill Gross

William H. Gross, the founder of PIMCO and a stamp collector, has donated $8 million to the National Postal Museum to create a new 12,000-square-foot gallery that will be named in his honor. The new gallery, which will give the museum public space at the street level, is expected to open in 2012, according to Allen Kane, director of the museum.

In addition to the financial donation, Gross will loan three extraordinary philatelic objects:

• A cover from the Pony Express service—the rider was captured by American Indians in 1860 in Nevada while en route from San Francisco to New York City. The pony avoided capture and the letter pouch was recovered two years later on the plains and delivered to the recipient.

• A cover featuring the 10-cent George Washington stamp, dated July 2, 1847. On July 1, two stamps were issued: a 5-cent stamp depicting Benjamin Franklin and this 10-cent stamp. The July 2 cover is the earliest known example of a U.S. postage stamp.

• A block of four 1918 “Inverted Jennys,” one of the most recognizable stamp errors (the blue biplanes were printed upside down on the first sheet of 100 stamps). This is one of six blocks of four known to exist. The Inverted Jenny is the most famous U.S. postage stamp.

The new William H. Gross Gallery will house the three rarities from Gross and other great items from the National Stamp Collection. In addition, there will be space for educational exhibits, temporary exhibitions and public programs.

The museum’s National Stamp Collection—more than 5,000 stamps and objects highlighting the first 50 years of postage stamps—will be on permanent view for the first time in the new gallery.

“We are honored that Mr. Gross donated funds to create this unique stamp gallery in the National Postal Museum,” said Kane. “This expansion allows us to showcase more of the nearly 6 million objects in the collection—like the National Stamp Collection and other rarities, which have never before been on display.”

“Stamp collecting has been such a rewarding and educational hobby for me that I wanted to share the joys of philately in a way that would benefit future generations of students, citizens and scholars,” said Gross. “The gallery at the Smithsonian’s National Postal Museum will use stamps and mail to offer a unique perspective on American history and identity. The story of stamps in America is the story of America, and I am proud to be part of preserving and showcasing these treasures.”

The museum will create a small, temporary exhibition with the philatelic rarities called “Treasures from the William H. Gross Collection,” which will be on display in the museum’s atrium Oct. 1-31 in recognition of National Stamp Collecting Month.

The Donor

Gross is PIMCO’s founder and co-chief investment officer in its world headquarters in Newport Beach, Calif. He has been associated with PIMCO since its inception in 1971 and currently oversees the management of more than $850 billion in assets. He is the author of numerous articles on the bond market, as well as the book “Everything You’ve Heard About Investing Is Wrong!” He appears frequently in national publications and worldwide media. Gross has received a number of awards, including Morningstar’s Fixed Income Manager of the Year for 1998, 2000 and 2007, making him the first person to receive this award more than once.

Gross earned a master’s degree in business administration from the Anderson School of Management at UCLA. He received his undergraduate degree from Duke University. Through his family foundation, Gross and his wife, Sue, have been making donations affecting change in such areas as education, women’s health, stem-cell research and social issues in Africa.

The Expansion

The Smithsonian Institution and the U.S. Postal Service (which owns the historic Postal Square Building) recently signed a lease for the additional space, currently occupied by a restaurant. This new space will be added to the museum’s existing 75,000 square feet. The Postal Museum’s additional space will offer better visibility with signs and banners outside and a street-level entrance.

The total cost of the expansion is expected to be about $18 million, which will be paid through private donations.

About the Museum

The National Postal Museum is devoted to presenting the colorful and engaging history of the nation’s mail service and showcasing one of the largest and most comprehensive collections of stamps—The National Philatelic Collection has more than 6 million objects and is the largest collection in a postal museum in the world. It is located at 2 Massachusetts Avenue N.E., Washington, D.C., across from Union Station. The museum is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

Jefferson and Edison signatures, Two Titanic Letters in Public Auction

(Dallas, Texas/New York, New York) – Two letters from first class passengers onboard the Titanic will be offered for a sale at a public auction in New York City and online, January 16, 2009. Both are written on White Star Lines stationery imprinted with the words, “On board R.M.S. Titanic,” and one may be the very first letter written on the ship by an early-boarding male passenger.

“Letters from passengers aboard Titanic are extremely rare, and are among the most prized artifacts from the disaster,” said Robert Litzenberger, Autograph Specialist of Spink Smythe (www.SpinkSmythe.com), the Texas and New York-based auction house conducting the sale. “The letters are expected to sell for $10,000 to $20,000 each.”

On her maiden voyage the Titanic struck a North Atlantic iceberg and sank within hours early on the morning of April 14, 1912.

The letters in the auction were placed in the mail from Southhampton, England just prior to the ship’s departure on April 10 for its never-completed trans-Atlantic crossing to New York City.

In a letter dated April 10, 1912, Adolphe Saalfeld, chairman of a pharmacy company in England, wrote to his wife: “Dear Wifey, Thanks for your letter. I just had an hours roaming abt. on this wonderful boat together with Paul. I like my cabin very much. It is like a bed-sitting room & rather large. I am the first man to write a letter on board, they are still busy to finish the last touches onboard. Au revoir in Whitweek please God! Love to you all! And a Kiss for you!”

“Saalfeld survived in lifeboat number three, which was filled with women and children. He died in England in 1926. He was traveling on the Titanic with European perfume samples he wanted to bring to New York, and some of those bottles were recovered from underwater wreckage in 2000,” said Litzenberger.

The second letter in the Spink Smythe auction also is dated April 10, 1912 and was written by passenger George Graham of Harriston, Canada, a sales manager for the Eaton’s department store company, to a business colleague in Berlin, Germany.

He wrote: “I am sorry that I neglected to send you a wire on the first of April but I for got all about it until Tuesday, you see. I arrived in London Late Sunday and I was very busy all day Monday and I forgot all about it however. I hope that you will accept my good wishes now even if they are a bit late. I hope to see you next year and that you and your good wife will enjoy good health.”

Graham did not survive the sinking.

“Hours before the ship struck an iceberg, Graham wired his wife back in Canada saying he was well and indicating he would be in New York City on Wednesday. She received the wire on Tuesday morning, when news of the disaster was on everyone’s lips, and mistakenly took it to mean her husband survived,” explained Litzenberger.

“Days later she was informed his body had been recovered from the North Atlantic.”
The Spink Smythe “Collector’s Series Sale” on January 15 - 17, 2009 also includes a rare, autographed photo of prolific inventor, Thomas A. Edison, and a January 8, 1801-dated, handwritten, lengthy letter by then President-elect Thomas Jefferson about arrangements for hiring slaves from other plantations to assist in completing projects at his Virginia estate, Monticello.

There is also a document signed three separate times by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1927. It is a promissory note for money he loaned the Georgia Warm Springs Foundation to help children with polio. He first signed it when issuing the note, then again for the payment of the money loaned, and a third time two months later to acknowledge the loan was repaid.

To bid on this lot and others, click here to view the online catalog.

For inquiries contact:

Robert Litzenberger, Autographs & Americana Specialist at rlitzenberger@spink.com

To order your all-color catalog of this sale contact us at 800-622-1880

or info@spinksmythe.com

World Renowned Art Collector Joseph Hacmey To Sell Stamp Collection At Auction At Spink.

Joseph Hackmey at his London home with Tim Hirsch and Olivier Stocker

Spink are pleased to announce the sale of the award winning Joseph Hackmey Philatelic Collections of Classic Ceylon and New Zealand. These are, without doubt, the finest collections of these countries ever formed and are expected to fetch in excess of US$10 million at auction. Joseph Hackmey, the renowned arts and philatelic collector, began collecting Ceylon and New Zealand in the early 1980s, coinciding with the auctions of The Patrick Pearson Collection and The Bartrop Sale. Hackmey’s collections contain numerous rare and unique items with outstanding provenance. The auction will feature rarities previously held by the world’s most renowned collectors including Ferrari, de Worms, Caspary, Dale-Lichtenstein, Pack, Stanley, Agabeg, Pearson and John Woolfe, to name but a few.

The collections will be sold through two auctions taking place at Spink Shreves Galleries in New York. The first sale will be held in early 2009 with a second sale following in autumn 2009. We feel certain that collectors of Ceylon and New Zealand, as well as new collectors from around the world, will be thrilled with the opportunity to purchase items from one of the most prestigious collections to come onto the market in the 21st century.

Two beautifully presented hardbound catalogues will be produced for the upcoming sales and will be available approximately four weeks prior to the auction. They are sure to be an important addition to any philatelic reference library, whether personal or institutional.

Spink Acquires Smythe, New York's oldest dealer and Auctioneer in coins, paper money, antique stocks and bonds and autographs.
London, England - March 7, 2008 - Spink, the world's leading auctioneers of Coins, Stamps, Medals and Banknotes, Bonds and Share Certificates, based in London and established 1666, has agreed to aquire R.M. Smythe & Company, specialists in Antique Stocks and Bonds, Banknotes, Coins, and Autographs, based in New York City and established in 1880. Read the story

Big guns go for big bucks at Smythe sales of shipwreck artifacts, currency, stock certificates and obsolete notes.
A twin pair of brass canons from the 1784 shipwreck "El Cazador" saw a final bid of $10,925 each bringing the total for the once week, four auction extravaganza at Smythe to $1,259,250.
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Smythe's Memphis Sale Their Best Ever
On July 5, 6 & 7, 2007, R. M. Smythe & Co., Official Auctioneers for the 31st Annual Memphis International Paper Money Show, conducted an extraordinary auction of paper money, stocks, bonds, and related items. This wide-ranging auction, featuring over 3,000 lots, was the biggest and best in the companys 127-year history.
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First Ladies Lead Strong Smythe Autograph Auction
New York auction house Smythe & Co. help one of the most lively autograph auctions in recent memory on May 16, 2006, when it offered, among its usual stellar fare, a large collection of autographs of America's First Ladies, including some rarities not seen in years. Not all the excitement surrounded that section of the sale, however, as strong bidding characterized the whole afternoon."...
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Smythe Celebrates 125 Years in Business
It was 1880 when a young stockbroker started a company to help people find out about stocks and bonds they had lost track of, hopefully to find some extra dollars when his research was completed. Roland M. Smythe was the first and foremost "stock detective" in America, writing the definitive texts in the field and continuing to provide help for investors until he died in 1931. After 125 years, his firm, known as R.M. Smythe & Co., Inc., continues, and investors are still asking for help in this arcane area of the stock market." ...
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Smythe Will Auction America’s Largest and Most Comprehensive Obsolete Currency Collection
New York- June 9, 2004- Stephen Goldsmith, Executive Vice President for R. M. Smythe & Co., announced today that Smythe has been selected as the official auctioneer for the Herb and Martha Schingoethe Collection of Obsolete Currency, the largest and most comprehensive collection in private or institutional hands.The collection consists of over 30,000 different notes, and represents every U.S. state or territory in which paper money was issued. The collection is unrivaled in vastness or completeness. "...
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Original Of Inscription On Statue Of Liberty" . . . Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses, yearning to breathe free. . ." Sold By R.M. Smythe
The New York-based auction house, R.M. Smythe, Co., Inc., announced today that it had received a record price of $85,000 plus a 15% buyer’s charge, from an anonymous client for a rare copy of the powerful poem “New Colossus” by Emma Lazarus. The well-known text, emblazoned on the base of the Statue of Liberty, was one of 367 lots, including many other patriotic items, sold at auction by Smythe...
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