David Feldman Olympic Games and Football June 4, 2019

Dear collector and client, It gives us great pleasure to present our latest auction catalogue of Olympics and Football philately and memorabilia, which has brought together fantastic specialised collections from several vendors to produce this highly attractive offering of Olympics that I’m sure will have something of interest for every collector, no matter how seasoned! The first is a specialised collection of the popular 1896 and 1906 Athens Games, and includes several rarities, many of which haven’t been on the market for decades. It has been many years since we have been able offer such a number of 1896 first day cancels from the Athens numbered cancels as well as smaller towns and villages, including a unique first day cover from Milos. However, the star item of this section has to be the largest known commercial franking of the 1896 issue. The 1906 collection offers a range of proofs, cancellations during the Games and varieties, as well as one of only 2 known first day covers with the complete set. The second significant collection is certainly the largest offering of 1912 Stockholm cancellations we or anyone else have ever offered. The “LBR / STADION” and “STADION” cancels range from scarce to extremely rare, and provides a once-in-a-generation opportunity for those collectors searching for specific dates of the Games to match to events on those days. The third collection covers one of the least known and researched areas of Olympic philately and memorabilia; the build up and fall-out of the cancelled Games of Berlin in 1916. Again, we have never seen another collection of the 1913 “DEUTSCHES STADION” cancels like this before. The cancels from the inauguration of the stadium are very scarce, but this offering not only shows these cancels from different times during that day, but also very rare examples from days when other sporting events and trials were held there. The fourth collection of note is from the 1924 Paris Games, including a range of the attractive die proofs from different stages of the design process, as well as varieties and usages of this highly collectable Olympic issue, including two of the eight known covers with the 50c imperforate variety. And last but by no means least, there is the “Alba” collection of Football at the Olympics, World Cup and European Championships which includes autographed covers collected by the vendor over 60 years and which have never been on the market before, as well as postcards, Olympic cancels on the days of football matches, memorabilia, etc. So we trust you will be able to find something to add to your collection, and we wish you success with your bids and satisfaction with your purchases! Finally, we would very much like to thank Manfred Bergman for his expertise and assistance in producing this catalogue. Geneva, March 2019 Ricky Verra Philatelist Introduction