The philanthropic philatelist is at it again. Wall Street money manager, Bill Gross is selling off another portion of his extensive stamp collection in a public auction estimated to bring over $1.25 million. All proceeds from the sale of his British Empire stamps will be donated by Sue and Bill Gross to the Millennium Villages Project at the Earth Institute at Columbia University. Spink Shreves Galleries is holding the sale in New York City on October 3, 2008 and pre-auction displays of the historic stamps are planned in London and New York.

This is the third time Gross has offered portions of his collection to raise millions of dollars for charity, and the second time the Millennium Villages Project has been selected as the recipient of the proceeds. This part of the collection has 138 items; rare and one-of-a-kind stamps and covers (envelopes with canceled stamps) from across the globe of the 19th and early 20th century British Empire. There are rarities from such places as Australia, the British West Indies, the Cape of Good Hope, Cyprus, Gibraltar, India, Malta, and Mauritius. Shown above is a trial printing "square pair" of 1863 Cape of Good Hope triangular-shaped, carmine red, mint condition, one-penny denomination stamps with a pre-sale estimate of $80,000 or more. The auction has its own website with more details here.