Postcard Sells For $12,650 at Jackson's, Sets World Auction Record

CEDAR FALLS, IOWA

:A world record price for a single unused postcard was established at Jackson's International's November 7 and 8 auction of postcards, stamps and ephemera. The circa 1898 unused postcard advertising Waverley Bicycles with artwork designed by Alphonse Mucha (Czech, 1860-1939) carried a presale estimate of $7/10,000. Bidding opened at $7,000 and slowly climbed between two in-house bidders and a phone bidder. When it was all over, a collector from Illinois who came to the auction especially for that card paid $12,650 and thereby established the new world record auction price.

The two-day auction featured a variety of material from various collections, including the estate of Kent Renshaw of Freeland, Wash., and the items from the Jack and Susan Davis collection of Bozeman, Mont.

The sale offered a little more than 1,000 lots of postcards, stamps, ephemera, a few comics and a few coins and totaled $438,280.

Without a doubt, the category of greatest interest was Art Nouveau, particularly those cards inspired by Mucha, Raphael Kirchner (Austrian, 1876-1917) and Samuel L. Schmucker (American, 1879-1921). Buyers from France, Spain, Germany, the Czech Republic, Poland and Japan accounted for a good amount of the bidding in this area, although American buyers were also quite active and successful.

Perhaps the most unique items to be offered were a set of ten original watercolor and gouache postcard illustrations by postcard artist Schmucker. Although each card measured only 5 1/2 by 8 1/2 inches, the group of ten (each sold individually) totaled a whopping $63,595. The highest individual price paid was $12,075, sold to a collector from North Carolina. The Schmucker illustrations were produced as postcards by Detroit Publishing under the title the "Butterfly Girls," as each card depicted an Art Nouveau style woman with butterfly wings.

Other highlights among individual and sets of Art Nouveau cards included a set of ten Moet & Chandon Art Nouveau plain-back cards with envelopes, which sold to a buyer from Washington for $4,830; a set of 30 Job postcards with envelopes and including two examples by Mucha, $3,450; and a set of 12 Mucha "Months of the Year" cards, which sold to a Kansas City buyer for $2,530.

Halloween cards continue to see strong upward movement, particularly on good Winsch and Schmucker examples. A highlights from this category included a set of three Winsch embossed series cards, which brought $2,242.

A California buyer paid $1,380 for an autographed real photo postcard of the Three Stooges. A group of 20 real photo postcards depicting various blacksmith shops sold for $977.

A small offering of stamps and coins included an American stamp album with examples from 1847-1985. It sold for $11,500. That was followed by seven Scott Platinum Series Albums, partially filled, that sold for $3,680.

The sale concluded with a variety of miscellaneous ephemera, including a few comic books, photographs and sports related items. Highlights included a heavily damaged and repaired Batman #1 comic book, which sold to a buyer from Texas for $6,440, and a Christy Matthewson Cracker Jack card #E145 that sold for $3,220.

Prices reported include the 15 percent buyer's premium. For information, 319-277-2256 or www.jacksonsauction.com.