After the traditionally quiet month of August, auction activities is back on steam again. Judging from the prices realised, buyers simply cannot resist the better items.

In the Bonhams sale of September 11, a Norway 1858 8sk mint block of twenty fetched £44,000. That is a whopping 487% above the estimated price!

Another top gainer is a Hong Kong 1867 "STEAM CHINA" cover sold by Cavendish Philatelic Auctions. It realised £9,500 from an estimated £3,000.

On the other side of the ocean, Shreves and Robert Siegel seems to dominate with a couple of big sales. One disappointment the knock-down price for a well centred copy of the "Inverted Jenny'. It sold for US$120,000 against the pre-sale estimate of US$170,000.

However, overall realisations looks good and it augurs well for the hobby.