We've seen PIMCO founder Bill Gross sells off some of his philatelic treasures for a good cause before, now he's at it again, selling a portion of his stamp collection to benefit a Smithsonian museum. Next month, Gross, who I've dubbed the Philanthropic Philatelist, will sell off two portions of his extensive stamp collection to raise funds for the Smithsonian National Postal Museum. Estimated to bring $3 million. many of the 214 Civil War-era Confederate States and early Canadian postage stamps are one-of-a-kind or the finest known.

The auction will be conducted by Spink Shreves Galleries in New York City and online, November 19, 2009. All proceeds of the sale will be donated by Gross and his wife, Sue, to the Smithsonian National Postal Museum in Washington, DC. Items include a unique 1861 Confederate postage stamp from Mount Lebanon, Louisiana that is the world's only known stamp misprinted with a mirror image of the intended design. In 1999 Gross paid a record $385,000 for the stamp that is still affixed to the envelope on which it was mailed nearly 150 years ago. A mint condition 1851 Canadian 12 pence denomination black stamp depicting a young Queen Victoria of England is estimated to sell for $150,000 or more.

Gross has pledged $8 million to create a 12,000 square-foot gallery in the Smithsonian National Postal Museum's planned, new street level facility in Washington, DC and proceeds from this auction will be part of that donation. "With all sale proceeds being given to the Smithsonian National Postal Museum, I hope that all collectors will aggressively participate in these two auctions, not only to add wonderful rarities to their collections, but to help ensure that future generations of collectors will be created and introduced to the hobby we all enjoy," said Gross.

When it comes to certain collectibles, the error is worth more than the perfect copy. Tomorrow an auction puts over 3,000 mistakes up for sale. A stamp collection gathered by a Pittsburgh stockbroker, the late Robert H. Cunliffe may bring in more than $4 million. Dallas-based Spink Shreves Galleries is auctioning off the collection on June 18 and 19 at the Spink Shreves New York City Auction Galleries. Charles Shreve, president of Spink Shreves Galleries says that it is the most comprehensive collection of inverted centers and printings ever created.

Inversion occur when there are several different colors printed on a stamp in different press runs. Most of the time these printing switches go off without a hitch but everyone in a while a sheet gets flipped upside-down between press runs and that's when the magic happens. These rare inversions become instant collector's items.

Cunliffe's collection includes an "inverted Jenny," perhaps the most famous of the inversions. The U.S. stamp from 1918 features an upside-down biplane. We've seen some inverted Jenny stamps sell for nearly a million dollars but this one is expected to bring of at least $125,000 to $150,000. Shown above is a strip of four U.S. stamps from 1901 featuring an upside-down electric automobile which may sell for over $300,000.

[Thanks, Lana]

At the Spink Shreves Galleries in New York, an auction proved that stamp collectors are still willing to spend money. A stamp collection centered on President Abraham Lincoln brought in almost $2 million (including commissions).

The stamps came from a collection by a retired executive from accounting and consulting firm KPMG. William Ainsworth inherited his father's stamp collection more than 40 years ago. Until 1977, he paid it little mind, but a meeting with a former postmaster general changed his thinking. Ainsworth began to build upon the already substantial collection, with a particular focus on Lincoln.

The collection included 19th and 20th century American stamps with the sixteenth president, along with tax stamps, private issues, proofs and test printings. A mint-condition set of 90 cent stamps (issued in 1869) pulled in $149,600, and a 1909 registered letter with a pair of blue 5 cent Lincoln stamps (sans customary perforations) was good for $77,725.

A few months ago we told you about the rarest stamp in the world which is worth several million dollars. This June, you can bid on a stamp that is a similar range of value. it's the Pack Strip, shown above, a strip of two 30-reis and one 60-reis stamps joined together (it's named after one of its early owners Charles Lathrop Pack). The strip is an example of stamps from Brazil made in 1842. They are called bull's eyes because the denomination sits in the center of a target-like shape.

The sale of this stamp is part of the auction of the world's most valuable private collection of South American postage stamps. The collection was assembled over four decades by a retired college professor who now lives on an island and will be will be offered in a public auction in New York City and online by Robert A. Siegel Auction Galleries on June 5 and 6, 2008.

The auction also includes from Buenos Aires, Argentina, the only surviving example of the 1859 one-peso "tête-bêche," which is French for head-to-foot, and the term collectors use to describe a pair of stamps that are printed upside down to each other. It has a pre-sale estimate of $400,000 to $500,000. From Chile there is an envelope with a unique block of 14 lithographed 5-centavo stamps of 1854 which is $400,000 to $500,000. From Colombia there is a letter with a 5-centavo and a10-centavo stamp dated September 1, 1859, the first day these very first stamps of Colombia were issued The pre-sale estimate is $200,000 to $300,000.

Our latest Big Giver is Wall Street bond manager, Bill Gross, or as I like to fondly call him, the Philanthropic Philatelist, will offer the Scandinavia portion of his extensive, international stamp collection in a public auction which is conservatively estimated to bring over $1 million. Proceeds from the collection's sale will be donated by Sue and Bill Gross to the Millennium Villages Project at the Earth Institute at Columbia University. The Spink Shreves Galleries of New York City and Dallas will conduct the sale in New York City on May 16, 2008.

The collection has 110 rare and even several one-of-a-kind 19th and early 20th century Scandinavian stamps including an unusual printing 152 years ago of Finland's first postage stamps that shows adjoining images that are upside down to each other, a peculiar placement known as tête-bêche. Charles Shreve of Spink Shreves Galleries says that the piece, a mint condition block of four stamps containing two pair of 10 kopek denomination stamps, the first stamps of Finland from 1856, is one of only three known and estimated to sell for $100,000 to $150,000; however, Shreve expects the winning bid will be even higher.

This isn't the Gross's first shot at stamp philanthropy, the Great Britain portion of his stamp collection was sold through Spink Shreves Galleries in June 2007, and he and his wife, Sue, donated the entire $9.1 million auction proceeds to charity.

The Millennium Villages Project is working to create health, education, agriculture and infrastructure programs to help some of the poorest people throughout the African continent through simple concrete means such as bed nets to fight malaria, seeds and fertilizer to increase food production, the building of schools and clinics, and safe water. The stamps will be displayed for potential bidders at the Spink Galleries in London, England, May 5 – 7, and at the New York City offices of the auction house, May 9 – 12 and May 15.

The rare "Inverted Jenny" stamp, one of the most coveted stamps among philatelists, sold for $825,000 through Heritage Auction Galleries. The 24-cent denomination, a U.S. red, white and blue misprint which shows upside-down Curtis 4-N ("Jenny") biplane, was position number 84 on the original sheet of 100. Heritage recently bought the stamp for $750,000 and sold it to a senior Wall Street executive who is a long-time coin collector. Greg Rohan of Heritage had been the under bidder on the same executive's behalf at an auction last month where another "Inverted Jenny" sold for $977,500. Just goes to prove that sometimes losing out in an auction can be a good thing.

[via CNN]