Newfoundland Air Mail 1919-39
January 25, 2023
Newfoundland has played an important role in the development of long-distance air travel. As the easternmost place in North America, it became a popular runway for many aviation pioneers attempting to cross the Atlantic by air in 1919. It also served as a refueling point for round-the-world attempts in the 1920s. Amelia Earhart made two record-setting flights from Newfoundland, in 1928 and 1932. The advent of passenger flights in the 1930s brought the pioneer period to a close, but established Newfoundland as a major stopover between Europe and North America. This June will mark 104th Anniversary of the Alcock & Brown flight (On 15 June 1919 came the telegram with the news that the Vicker's Vimy landed in Ireland, having completed the 1,860 mile flight in 16 hours. The news was received with great enthusiasm. "Well, it must be something for a man in Ireland today to be able to say Yesterday, when I was in America", quoted the pilots). The rest is history.
We are pleased to present the award-winning collection assembled by Jean-Claude Vasseur, author of "Newfoundland Air Mails 1919/1939" published in 2015. The collection tells the story of the Great Transatlantic Air Race and the struggles of early aviation. Many rarities and unique items are included.
The auction will take place on Wednesday, January 25, 2023 at 1:00 PM at Cherrystone Auction Galleries and on CherrystoneLive.
| Images | Description | Current Bid |
 | Lot #62 NEWFOUNDLAND AIR MAIL - 1921-1939 1932 Dornier DO-X surcharge 1932 DO-X, block of four, n.h., v.f. (Unitrade CAN $3,200)  ***Catalog #C12 | Price Realized $1,100.00 |
 | Lot #63 NEWFOUNDLAND AIR MAIL - 1921-1939 1932 Dornier DO-X surcharge 1932 DO-X $1.50 on $1, surcharge dramatically shifted diagonally, vertical pair, h.r. at top, bottom stamp n.h., v.f. "slanted surcharge" variety (Unitrade C12i, CAN $2,700) *** Catalog #C12var | Price Realized $900.00 |
 | Lot #64 NEWFOUNDLAND AIR MAIL - 1921-1939 1932 Dornier DO-X surcharge 1932 DO-X Surcharge, $1.50 on $1 blue, surcharge inverted, l.h., well centered, fresh and v.f., with 1993 Royal certificate. These stamps were printed in sheets of four for use on the return flight of the Dornier DO-X from New York to Germany. While it has been estimated that as many as 13 blocks of four may have had the inverted surcharge applied in error, only 20-40 stamps still exist today. A major rarity, ex-Dempsey Drappas (Unitrade CAN $30,000) * Catalog #C12a Catalog Value $ 20,000 | Price Realized $9,000.00 |
 | Lot #65 NEWFOUNDLAND AIR MAIL - 1921-1939 1932 Dornier DO-X surcharge 1932 (20 May) cover franked with $1.50 surcharge, tied by St. John's slogan departure pmk and sent to London, endorsed "Via Air Mail DO-X" at bottom, oval "High Commissioner for Newfoundland Received 26 May 1932" datestamp on back, flown back to Newfoundland, with St. John's June 2nd 1932 arrival, v.f., one of only four covers known with London arrival  Catalog #C12 | Unsold |
 | Lot #66 NEWFOUNDLAND AIR MAIL - 1921-1939 1932 Dornier DO-X surcharge 1932 General Post Office corner card cover (re-used) franked with $1.50 Do-X (May 19), with previous 36c, 4c and 10c making up 50c franking for "Columbia" flight (June 2, 1930), with various transit and arrival markings, fine-v.f., most unusual Catalog #C12 | Price Realized $675.00 |
 | Lot #67 NEWFOUNDLAND AIR MAIL - 1921-1939 1932 Dornier DO-X surcharge 1932 (20 May) cover franked with $1.50 surcharge, tied by St. John's slogan departure pmk and sent to Lisbon, red typewritten "Via Air Mail DO-X Newfoundland-Europe", with Portuguese slogan arrival 25.5.32 on back (mail was offloaded in Vigo, Spain and from there sent to Portugal), only a few known to Lisbon Catalog #C12 | Price Realized $475.00 |
 | Lot #68 NEWFOUNDLAND AIR MAIL - 1921-1939 1932 Dornier DO-X surcharge 1932 (20 May) cover franked with $1.50 surcharge canceled by blue Holyrood pmk, with single and pair 2M German Eagle adhesive alongside, canceled by black "Dornier Flugschiff May 16, 1932" (on-board Post Office headed by Wilhelm Niemann, co-pilot), "America Europa DO-X" cachet at bottom, addressed to London, with 21 May 32 arrival, forwarded to Berlin (27 May), v.f., rare combination cover Catalog #C12 | Price Realized $800.00 |
 | Lot #69 NEWFOUNDLAND AIR MAIL - 1921-1939 1932 Dornier DO-X surcharge 1932 (20 May) cover franked with $1.50 surcharge canceled by blue Holyrood pmk, with single and pair 2M German Eagle adhesive alongside, canceled by violet "Dornier Flugschiff May 16, 1932" (on-board Post Office headed by Wilhelm Niemann, co-pilot), "America Europa DO-X" cachet at bottom, addressed to London, with 21 May 32 arrival, forwarded to Berlin (27 May), v.f., rare combination cover Catalog #C12 | Price Realized $950.00 |
 | Lot #70 NEWFOUNDLAND AIR MAIL - 1921-1939 1932 Dornier DO-X surcharge 1932 (19 May) legal-size envelope franked with $1.50 surcharge, tied by St. John's slogan departure pmk and sent to Horta, Azores, with letter mentioning three similar covers sent, backstamped June 15th (mail was offloaded in Vigo, Spain and from there sent by sea to the Azores) Catalog #C12 | Unsold |
 | Lot #71 NEWFOUNDLAND AIR MAIL - 1921-1939 1932 Dornier DO-X surcharge 1932 (19 May) cover envelope franked with $1.50 surcharge, tied by St. John's slogan departure pmk and sent to Madrid, endorsed "DO-X" at bottom, with unclear arrival pmk on back (mail was offloaded in Vigo, Spain and from there sent by sea to the Azores) Catalog #C12 | Unsold |
 | Lot #72 NEWFOUNDLAND AIR MAIL - 1921-1939 1932 Dornier DO-X surcharge 1932 (19 May) cover franked with $1.50 surcharge, tied by St. John's slogan departure pmk and sent to Berlin, opened and resealed by German Customs, with handstamp and dated May 27 by hand, filing fold away from the stamp, unusual cover to Germany Catalog #C12 | Price Realized $325.00 |
 | Lot #73 NEWFOUNDLAND AIR MAIL - 1921-1939 1932 Dornier DO-X surcharge 1932 Peter O'Mara corner card cover franked with $1.50 surcharge, tied by part of St. John's slogan departure pmk, addressed locally and sent to Germany, where 25pf Hindenburg adhesive was added and resent from Kiel to St. John's, arriving on August 15th, cover roughly opened, with some stains on back, otherwise fine, one of only three known with similar routing and probably handled by the crew Catalog #C12 | Price Realized $475.00 |
 | Lot #74 NEWFOUNDLAND AIR MAIL - 1921-1939 1932 Dornier DO-X surcharge 1932 (19 May) cover franked with $1.50 DO-X surcharge, variety bottom line shifted diagonally, sent from St. John's to England, unclaimed (25 May) and returned (July 27), framed "Not Called For E.C.", fine, with small photo of DO-X at Holyrood (Unitrade C12i, CAN $900) Catalog #C12var | Price Realized $325.00 |
 | Lot #75 NEWFOUNDLAND AIR MAIL - 1921-1939 1932 Dornier DO-X surcharge 1932 (19 May) cover franked with $1.50 surcharge canceled by St. John's departure pmk, addressed to France, with St. Cloud (26.V.32) arrival, minor toning, otherwise fine Catalog #C12 | Price Realized $150.00 |
