You will have read in the last bulletin the report by Bob Lee who attended the second and final part of the late David Jefferies auction of philatelic and Scouting ephemera sold in Edinburgh.  The total realisation was £93,386, but much of this came from the crazy prices paid for some of his ephemera.  The highlight of the sale was the only known Darlington Camp cancellation on cover dated 9th August 1936 which made £3500 plus buyer's premium of 10%.  It was not only Scout collectors who were bidding for this item, but postal historians.  The great fun of collecting is to find a bargain, and this happened to an overseas dealer at a recent philatelic exhibition in London when another dealer came up to him and said "You collect Scouts. – are you interested in this?" It was a postcard with the very rare Darlington cancel which was marked up at £70 but was purchased for even less with the usual dealer's discount.  This now gives a total of seven recorded examples of this postmark.  Going back to the Jefferies sale, there was an article in the January 2006 issue of Picture Postcard Monthly with the title of "Scouting bonanza in Edinburgh" which reported mainly on the ephemera.  The first lot to go sky high was Lot 19 Denmark-1924 postcard with Copenhagen postmark, a postcard of SS Baltannic printed for the Jamboree, and a few others cards made £2200 against an estimate of £20.  This was followed by Lot 20 which included a 1924 Jamboree postcard, an unused real photo card showing B.P. and King Christian with British Scouts, a Jamboree cloth badge (poor) an advertising label which made £7800 against an estimate of £40.  This was followed by "France- useful selection of cards, covers etc. (35 items) including several of 1947 Jamboree" which made £10,500 against an estimate of £24.  Lot 76 consisted of 86 postcards, mainly real photographs of largely Scottish Scouts including B.P.'s visit to Edinburgh, Olympia 1920, several B.P. cards made £3200, estimate £200.  The actual catalogue and prices realised can be found at the web site www.stamp-shop.com.  The sale was held on 7th November and the prices shown are without the 10% buyers premium.

I know that it was only in my September/October notes that I mentioned the most expensive item of Scout interest to be sold on eBay was a B.P. scrapbook of 1909-1912 which made £10,086.  It is surprising how quickly records get broken, as last September a "Maitrise" participants badge for the 1947 French World Jamboree made £40,0293 (US$ 71,200, €58,935) . I know that you will say that this is nothing to do with Scout stamp collecting, but I understand from the description that only 98 were produced.  To think that a Jamboree badge is worth more than a Mafeking Baden-Powell reversed head stamp, (of which only eight are known on the open market) is most surprising.  The page was viewed 2224 times, so no doubt there was great interest in this item.

The dates of the 6th Euro-Scout philatelic exhibition have been finalised and this event will take place at Alcalá de Henares, Spain from 2nd to 5th November 2006.  Alcalá (which has more than 465 listed buildings) is a World Heritage City and is situated some 17 miles (30 km) ENE of Madrid.  It will be organised by the Philatelic Club of the Spanish Scout and Guides with sponsorship by the Spanish Federation of Philatelic Societies and the City Council of Alcalá de Henares.  There will be a maximum of 400 frames, each holding 16 sheets and there will be no charge for the exhibitors.  Over the years we have increased the attendance from UK members and it is hoped that we will have a good contingent this year at what is the best Scouting philatelic Exhibition in the world!  Further information will be given in the next Bulletin.

As you are probably aware, our usual exhibition will not be held at B.P. house this February, as we are involved with displaying at this years Stampex, as a member of the British Thematic Association.  The club has agreed to show 12 frames of Scout & Guide material.  The exhibition is at the Design Centre, Islington from Wednesday 22nd - Sunday 26th February.  We have also hired a room for a club meeting on Saturday 25th afternoon from 3 to 5.30 pm when it is hoped many of our members will be able to attend.