The first four-figure price for a stamp collection was obtained in 1878, when the magnificent collection of Sir Daniel Cooper, Bart., K.C.M.G., was transferred to the ownership of Mr. Philbrick, Q.C., for £3,000. Sir Daniel's public career, chiefly in connection with the promotion of "Advance, Australia!", is still well remembered, but it is significant of the character of the assemblages at Mr. Stainforth's rectory that this distinguished Australian should have been one of their most active promoters in 1861 and the following years. He was, with Mr. Philbrick, one of the founders of the Philatelic Society in 1869, and was the first of the line of distinguished occupants of the presidential chair of the now Royal Philatelic Society. It is only natural that, with his intimate associations with Australia, the early stamps of that continent and of New Zealand should figure strongly in his collection. It was he who supplied the data which enabled the young philatelic giant, Mr. E. L. Pemberton, to announce the existence of a pre-Rowland Hill stamped envelope in New South Wales, leading to the discovery of the embossed letter-sheets of Sydney, 1838. On March 18, 1872, there was held the first auction of rare postage-stamps at the rooms of Messrs. Sotheby, in Wellington Street, London. The experiment was made with what was described as a _portion_ of an American collection, and the only reason the _whole_ collection was not offered was that the time of the public was too valuable to spread over three days! A criticism in the columns of _The Philatelical Journal_ of April 15, 1872, attributes some of the prices, even then considered low, to the distrust of amateurs when the owner was bidding. I give a few of the prices realised. Lot 6 was the 15 cents error, United States, 1869, with the frame inverted: "This fetched a _good price_" in the opinion of the contemporary philatelic writer, being knocked down to Mr. Atlee for 36s. My friend, Mr. E. B. Power, in his priced work "United States Stamps," 1909, prices this stamp at $2,500 unused, $150 used. Lot 12 was a 5 cents Brattleboro: "a beauty, was bought in at £3; it would have sold well but for the owner's bidding," &c. I suppose a Brattleboro, especially "a beauty," would find ready competition in three figures to-day. Other lots _bought in_ were:-- Lot 15, St. Louis, all three varieties of the 5c. £2 13s. Lot 16, " " " " 10c. £2 7s. Lot 17, " 20 c., "unique" £6. Lot 18, " 20 c., "variety not unique" £8 12s. The 5 cent St. Louis used is now catalogued at £25, and the 10 cent at £30; a _pair_ of the 20 cents, these stamps being part of the treasure-trove of the celebrated find of 1895, was sold in the 'nineties for £1,026. Some of the Blood locals were bought in, but Mr. Pemberton secured for £5 a copy of the very rare _pink_ Jefferson Market P.O. stamp.