The Dr Roger Kinns Collections: Newfoundland & Tasmania
4 November 2026
Two collections formed over three decades by a scientist, scholar and lifelong philatelist, offered at auction for the first time. Classic Pence issues and historic flight covers from Newfoundland sit alongside one of the finest groups of Tasmanian postmarks and pictorial lettercards to come to market in years.
In this auction we are pleased to offer the fine collections of Newfoundland (lots 167–225) and Tasmania (lots 49–114) assembled by Dr Roger Kinns (1944-2025), older brother of Philip (who has been with SG since 1970). His obituary can be found below.
Upcoming Auction
Stamps and Covers of the World Including the Hambledon Collection Part III.
17 & 18 November 2026, 10:30 GMT | Live from London & Online
Dr Roger Kinns brought to his stamps the same rigour that made him a respected authority in acoustics and in the history of maritime timekeeping. Nearly everything here was bought piece by piece, for quality and for interest, and that shows throughout. Most of his Tasmanian postmarks were bought individually, so their average quality is very high. His Newfoundland classics come with a long run of BPA, RPS and Philatelic Foundation certificates, and with earlier provenances including Burrus, Sidney Harris, Frazer, Cyril Harmer and Marcus Samuel.
Roger visited both Newfoundland and Tasmania and had seen many of the places named on their stamps and postmarks. On the Tasmanian pictorial lettercards he became a recognised authority, and our detailed lot descriptions owe a great deal to his notes. Altogether, 120 lots will be offered from the two collections.
Most of the Newfoundland collection was assembled between 1990 and 2010. It is strongest in the classic 1857–64 Pence issues, which are notoriously hard to find in fine condition. There are mint multiples, certificated used examples of the rare high values, and two Pence covers recorded in Pratt's census. The collection then moves through the Cents issues and some unusual parcel tags to a fine section of pioneer air mail. This includes two covers flown by Alcock and Brown on the first successful non-stop transatlantic flight in June 1919.
Lot 201: a second Alcock & Brown cover, in long format and endorsed "By Vicker-Vimy aeroplane mail" (£500–600). Lot 203: the ill-fated Handley Page attempt, one of 115 recorded (£200–250).
Lot 199: 1931 "Justice for Hungary" flight cover (£300–400). Lot 209: 1931 Hillig & Hoiriis cover to Norway, one of the few items actually carried "per favour" (£200–250). Lots 210–212: Balbo flight covers, two with the scarcer Shoal Harbour cds.
Lots 189–190: 1862–64 rose-lake issues in complete mint sheets of twenty, including the 1s showing the Stacey Wise 1858 watermark.
Lots 200 & 205: registered linen parcel tags to the Bank of Montreal, Halifax. One bears nine 24c 'Caribou', the other six 60c black.
Lot 179: the dangerous Sperati forgery of the 1s, with BPA Sperati handstamp. Lot 167: 1d Perkins Bacon plate proof pair in black.
Substantial collections of Pence issues, Cents issues, KGVI, booklets, pre-stamp postal history, air mails, postal stationery (with plating studies of the 1c cards), revenues, and Paquebot and railway cancellations (lots 185, 191, 197, 214–225).
Tasmania became Roger's new enthusiasm from about 2000, and he brought a scientist's method to it. The heart of the collection is cancellations and postal stationery. The postmarks run from the first and second numeral allocations through to Commonwealth "used in" marks, and many carry high Hardinge rarity ratings. The pictorial lettercards were his particular speciality. They are arranged issue by issue and colour by colour, and several are the only examples recorded. Fine Chalon Heads and some remarkable postal history complete the offering.
Lot 54: 1863 New Norfolk front with the 'N Norfolk' handstamp, very rare with perhaps two or three known (£120–140).
Lot 107: 1911 1d on 2d 20° surcharge lettercard used to Switzerland, apparently the only recorded example in any condition (£200–250). Lots 106 & 108: further rare surcharged cards.
Lots 94–105: the lettercards issue by issue, including the 1901 Mines set of six unused (lot 96) and the rare 1909 Lakes in red (lot 100) and green (lot 103).
Lot 60: 1853 4d bright brownish orange with four large margins, ex Colbeck, RPS Victoria Certificate. Lot 65: Plate II block of six, ex Colbeck. Lot 57: 1d blue with Norfolk Plains '45', ex Sato.
Lot 51: twenty Chalon Head covers, including inter-state uses and covers to England (£500–600). Lot 49: pre-stamp covers from 1840. Lot 50: an 1854 letter from Captain John Rippon of the Prince of Wales to his wife.
Lots 76–91: individual postmark rarities and collections, including Hobart Check Branch (5R), Honeywood (5R) and Commonwealth "used in Tasmania" marks.
Dr Roger Kinns
1 July 1944 – 13 August 2025
Dr Roger Kinns (1944–2025)
Roger was educated at Farnborough Grammar School, and had a distinguished academic career in Cambridge, as undergraduate and research student (in engineering or Mechanical Sciences, as it was then known) at Gonville & Caius College, and then as the first Maudslay Research Fellow at Pembroke College. He then moved to Glasgow to continue his research with Y-ARD (later part of BAE Systems) in the field of Acoustics, with special emphasis on jet engines and submarines, and later (as an independent consultant) cruise liners. His subsequent academic affiliations included a Senior Visiting Research Fellowship at the University of New South Wales, Sydney, from 2007 to 2019.
He travelled widely, and had an extraordinary range of interests, from wine and sailing his vintage yacht on the Gareloch to being Chairman of the trust that supports Benmore Botanic Garden and Deacon of the Incorporation of Gardeners of Glasgow, a body dating back to 1605. Through his connection with the Maudslay Society, which continued long after he had left Cambridge, he developed strong interests in the history of science, particularly timekeeping by mariners, which bore fruit in his magnum opus “The World of Visual Time Signals for Mariners”, published in 2024.
Roger was a lifelong stamp collector, following in the footsteps of his father (D.M. Kinns, 1917-1996) and grandfather (H.E. Kinns, 1885-1938, a member of the Philatelic Society of India in the 1920s). He brought to his philatelic pursuits the same dedication and attention to detail that characterised all aspects of his life, and we hope that new owners will now appreciate and benefit from his taste and discernment.
The Newfoundland were mainly bought between 1990 and 2010, while the Tasmania represented a new enthusiasm from about 2000, with a focus on cancellations and postal stationery, especially the pictorial letter cards, on which he became an authority, as reflected in our detailed lot descriptions. Roger took great pleasure in visiting both Newfoundland and Tasmania, and could claim to have seen many of the locations named and depicted on their stamps and postmarks.
He is survived by his wife Marion, his daughter and son, and three grandchildren.
