Here indeed was a collection, probably as near to the collector's elusive ideal of completeness as has ever been attained in a general collection. Writing from memory, in January, 1890, he gives the following list of special items he remembers to have been amongst the 6,300 unused stamps:—
| Bergedorf | Nov. 1, | 1861 | 1/2 sch. violet. | |
| 3 sch. rose. | ||||
| Saxony | 1850 | 3 pf. | ||
| Great Britain | 1840 | 1d. V.R. | ||
| Switzerland: | Zurich | 1843 | 4 rapp. | |
| " | " | " | 6 rapp. | |
| " | "Vaud" | — | 4 centimes. | |
| " | " | — | 5 centimes. | |
| Tuscany | 1849 | 1 soldo. | ||
| " | " | 2 soldi. | ||
| " | " | 60 crazie. | ||
| Naples | 1860 | 1/2 T. arms. | ||
| " | " | 1/2 T. cross. | ||
| Reunion | 1851 | 15 centimes. | ||
| " | " | 30 centimes. | ||
| "Indies" | 1854 | 1/2 anna red. | ||
| New Zealand | 1855 | 1s. | ||
| New Brunswick | 1857 | 1s. | ||
| Nova Scotia | 1857 | 1s. | ||
| British Guiana | 1856 | 4 cents carmine. | ||
| Peru | 1858 | 1/2 peso. | ||
| Buenos Ayres | April, | 1858 | 3 pesos. | |
| " | " | " | " | 4 pesos red. |
| " | " | " | " | 4 pesos brown. |
| " | " | " | " | 5 pesos orange. |
| " | " | Oct. | " | 4 rl. brown. |
| " | " | " | " | 1 peso brown (:IN Ps). |
| " | " | Jan. | 1859 | 1 peso blue (:IN Ps). |
| " | " | " | " | 1 peso blue (TO Ps). |
"On the other hand, Spain, without its colonies, was represented in my collection for the period of 1850 to the end of 1856 by 79 unused stamps, 80 postmarked stamps, 8 essays of the Madrid stamp (bear), and was very complete." Even on the extenuated scale of the modern Gibbons catalogue, the total of varieties of the issues 1850-56 only numbers 125.
The first four-figure price for a stamp collection was obtained in 1878, when the magnificent collection of Sir Daniel Cooper, Bart., K.C.M.G., was transferred to the ownership of Mr. Philbrick, Q.C., for £3,000. Sir Daniel's public career, chiefly in connection with the promotion of "Advance, Australia!", is still well remembered, but it is significant of the character of the assemblages at Mr. Stainforth's rectory that this distinguished Australian should have been one of their most active promoters in 1861 and the following years. He was, with Mr. Philbrick, one of the founders of the Philatelic Society in 1869, and was the first of the line of distinguished occupants of the presidential chair of the now Royal Philatelic Society. It is only natural that, with his intimate associations with Australia, the early stamps of that continent and of New Zealand should figure strongly in his collection. It was he who supplied the data which enabled the young philatelic giant, Mr. E. L. Pemberton, to announce the existence of a pre-Rowland Hill stamped envelope in New South Wales, leading to the discovery of the embossed letter-sheets of Sydney, 1838.
On March 18, 1872, there was held the first auction of rare postage-stamps at the rooms of Messrs. Sotheby, in Wellington Street, London. The experiment was made with what was described as a portion of an American collection, and the only reason the whole collection was not offered was that the time of the public was too valuable to spread over three days! A criticism in the columns of The Philatelical Journal of April 15, 1872, attributes some of the prices, even then considered low, to the distrust of amateurs when the owner was bidding. I give a few of the prices realised. Lot 6 was the 15 cents error, United States, 1869, with the frame inverted: "This fetched a good price" in the opinion of the contemporary philatelic writer, being knocked down to Mr. Atlee for 36s. My friend, Mr. E. B. Power, in his priced work "United States Stamps," 1909, prices this stamp at $2,500 unused, $150 used. Lot 12 was a 5 cents Brattleboro: "a beauty, was bought in at £3; it would have sold well but for the owner's bidding," &c. I suppose a Brattleboro, especially "a beauty," would find ready competition in three figures to-day. Other lots bought in were:—
| Lot 15, | St. Louis, | all three varieties of the | 5c. | £2 13s. | ||
| Lot 16, | " | " | " | " | 10c. | £2 7s. |
| Lot 17, | " | 20 c., "unique" | £6. | |||
| Lot 18, | " | 20 c., "variety not unique" | £8 12s. | |||
The 5 cent St. Louis used is now catalogued at £25, and the 10 cent at £30; a pair of the 20 cents, these stamps being part of the treasure-trove of the celebrated find of 1895, was sold in the 'nineties for £1,026. Some of the Blood locals were bought in, but Mr. Pemberton secured for £5 a copy of the very rare pink Jefferson Market P.O. stamp.
"Here," says our chronicler, "occurred something amusing; the auctioneer probably fancied that as this was unique and exciting competition, it was a handsome stamp, so as the bidding rose described it as 'beautifully engraved,' which created great laughter, for it was a foully hideous thing, and the engraving apparently done by a blind man with a skewer." Altogether there were many rare American locals, the majority of which fell to Sir Daniel Cooper, Mr. Atlee, and Mr. Pemberton. Then came "some miscellaneous lots, sets of used, &c., of which some fetched exorbitant prices, for instance, four varieties of 5 cents, green, eagle, Bolivia, were sold for 14s., the 5 cent lilac for 23s., the 10 cent brown for 17s. The early Luzons (Philippines), used, were good lots and the 5 and 10 cent 1854, with 1 and 2 rs., fetched in the aggregate £6 9s., so they were no bargain."