Turner Auctions + Appraisals is pleased to present A Secret Vault on Sunday, April 21, 2024. The sale features intriguing items recently discovered, or rediscovered, by the owners, a couple from Northern California. The 95 lots include autographed letters from famous people, postage stamps from Great Britain, and an assortment of gold coins from the 19th-20th centuries. Auction highlights include signed correspondence by the late Princess Diana from 1994; by abolitionist leader John Brown; and by biologist Charles Darwin, known as the father of evolution. Also of note is the Great Britain 30 pence Comedians Error Stamp from 1998 that featured English entertainer Joyce Grenfell.

The owners are unsure of the exact provenance of the items in the vault, but many come from overseas and/or were passed down from late family members. In fact, most of the stamps and autographed items were acquired some years ago from Stanley Gibbons in London, England, the world’s oldest rare stamp seller and one of the foremost purveyors of such collectibles. (However, despite its prominence and 167-year history, the company has had a recent change of fortune. After its ill-fated purchase in December 2023 of the world’s most expensive stamp, the British Guiana 1c Magenta, Stanley Gibbons has now become part of the Strand Collectibles Group.)

Eventually, the owners’ items were shipped from Europe and were sent to a storage vault in Wyoming. There other items accumulated over time, and they rested for some years -- only to be rediscovered recently when the owners moved to California. And what a marvelous surprise it must have been to revisit the vault! Now the couple has moved the rediscovered items to auction, in hopes that others will enjoy and appreciate in the light of day what has been hidden away for years.