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Harry Evans: secret collector
by:
Gary Watson
Harrie Evans was born in Australia in 1887 and qualified as a public accountant. In 1915, he joined the Army Pay Corps of the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) and was despatched to England where he rose to the position of chief paymaster with the rank of lieutenant-colonel. Evans was mentioned in despatches, and in 1918 (at the age of only 31) was made a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (Military Division). At the end of the war he was appointed director of the Repatriation and Demobilisation Branch.
Colonel Evans subsequently returned to accountancy in Melbourne but in 1926 was headhunted to Austral Development Ltd, a London-based company representing Broken Hill mining and metal interests. Eventually becoming managing director of the company, Harrie Evans lived in London from 1927 until his death in late 1971. Perhaps his most important transaction was negotiating a contract for a supply of lead and zinc to the British Government during World War II and for some years thereafter.
Naturally, with this resume, it would be expected that Evans' claim to fame would stem from his military or business careers. But Colonel Evans had a secret that would result in his name echoing around the world, three decades after his death. Throughout his adult life, Harrie Evans was a dedicated but very private stamp collector. It is believed that he never joined an organised stamp club or philatelic society and he never publicly exhibited any part of his collection. Little surprise therefore, that thirty years after his death, dealers and collectors alike had never heard of Colonel Harrie Evans.
All that changed dramatically early in 2001 when the colonel's family decided it was time to share their father's quiet passion with other enthusiasts. The result was a series of four public auctions devoted to Colonel Evans' vast collection of stamps from Australia, the Australian colonies, and the Pacific Islands. Conducted over a thirteen-month period by Melbourne firm Premier Philately (now Prestige Philately), the collection netted more than $2,240,000 making it the most valuable philatelic property to be auctioned in this part of the world. However, significant parts of the Evans collection were not put to auction, so the full extent of his acquisitions may never be appreciated.
Across the four auctions, some 2687 lots containing several hundred thousand stamps were offered. The Australia auction was a complete sell-out. Only 29 lots from the other three auctions failed to find a buyer, representing a staggering clearance rate of 98.85 percent. The most important aspect of the sales was that they put Australian stamps prominently on the world stage. Prices for top-class Australian material took off with great momentum as bidders competed to acquire the numerous rare and beautiful items on offer, including many that were until the auction unknown to modern collectors.
In the process, a new world record price for an Australian Commonwealth philatelic item was achieved. In 1920 a sheet of 2/- (20c) stamps was issued with the top row of twelve stamps being imperforate on three sides. It was recorded at the time that the strip of twelve had been divided into four pairs, a strip of three, and a single that 'was lost'. However, a 1987 census recorded only two pairs'both in institutional collections' and the theft and presumed loss of a third pair.1 It was stated: 'Of the strip of three, no trace has been found'.
Imagine therefore the surprise and delight that greeted the appearance at auction of the legendary strip, which for over 80 years had been held in the collection of an Australian expatriate living in London. The strip had a pre-sale estimate of $50,000, a price never achieved previously for an Australian item. However, it was rapidly bid up to $80,000 plus 10 percent buyer's premium. Later it was learned that the buyer had removed the third unit and sold it to another collector. When the scandal broke, the auction underbidder commented that he would have forced the price up to at least $100,000 in an effort to avoid such senseless destruction of an Australian icon.
Another extraordinary result was achieved for a Queensland stamp of humble appearance but great rarity. This 6d green with figures at base is believed to have been issued in error in 1902. It is likely that only a couple of sheets of this stamp were released as, to date, only fifteen examples have been recorded. Despite its undoubted rarity, this stamp was confined in the leading Stanley Gibbons catalogue to a footnote and priced at a mere 2250 pounds.3 The auction estimate of $5000 was therefore set at about the internationally quoted retail value. Despite this, numerous bidders competed for the stamp and it sold for $29,120, almost tripling the previous record price of $10,450 for a Queensland stamp, set in the same auction.
Numerous other stamps also achieved record levels during the course of the four auctions. One notable feature of the auction was the fine selection of monogram pieces from New South Wales. While large premiums for such items in the Kangaroo and King George V series were already the rule, this was the first time that buyers competed strongly to force up the prices of the similar items from the Colonial period.
The colonel had divided his material between his two sons and his daughter. The sons had kept their bequests intact and virtually untouched although the collection had been looked at, valued, and most of the rarities removed from the albums for safe keeping. His daughter, however, disposed of her legacy, which included stamps from South Australia, Western Australia and New Zealand - in England in the early 1970s, missing out on the bonanza in which she could have participated thirty years later.
There is no doubt that the sale of Colonel Evans' collection in 2001-2002 provided a massive boost to the popularity of and demand for stamps from this part of the world. With appreciation for antique and classic stamps showing no sign of easing, the market-watchers now wait with bated breath for the appearance of the next 'lost' hoard.
Notes
1 Geoff Kellow, The Australian philatelist, vol. 1, no. 2, Nov-Dec 1987, pp. 68-69.
2 Ibid., pp. 68-69.
3 In 2003 the 6d green was properly listed with a value of οΎ£8000, which is still too low as another example sold this year for AUD$32,000. |
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