State of the Market

Over the last few years we have sold a number of properties containing high-quality Philadelphia postal history, and the hammer prices have demonstrated that this is a city with an active and dedicated following. Below are just a few of the attractive and important items which have passed through our hands recently.

About H.R. Harmer

Harmer very quickly became synonymous with high-quality philatelic auctions in our namesake’s native Great Britain. By 1940 it was time for the company to branch out, and a satellite office was opened across the Atlantic in New York City.

H.R. Harmer first rose to prominence in the United States when our firm was selected to sell the collection of the late President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. These auctions were front-page news even in the non-philatelic press, as never before had the stamp collection of such a beloved public figure been made available to collectors.

Over the coming decades, H.R. Harmer would go on to sell two of the most comprehensive and valuable collections ever to cross the auction block—those of Alfred H. Caspary and Alfred F. Lichtenstein, both of which would set new high-water marks in the industry. And, since 2019, H.R. Harmer has been selling the collection of German businessman Erivan Haub—a series of auctions which has once again placed H.R. Harmer at the forefront of the philatelic world. Today, led by a young and enthusiastic team, H.R. Harmer is still dedicated to providing collectors with the same professional service and philatelic expertise that our company was founded upon all those decades ago.