A widow from Florida is insisting that a Manhattan auction house return her late husband’s $2 million stamp collection after almost ten years, expressing concerns that some of the invaluable stamps might be missing.
The collection, carefully gathered by Stanley Marks, began when he was only 10 years old in 1937.
Marks, an attorney who became a member of the New York Stock Exchange in the 1950s, transformed a childhood hobby into a lifelong passion until his passing in 2016 at the age of 89, when the collection was handed over to Robert A. Siegel Auction Galleries.
The collection was divided into two categories: International and U.S. stamps. The auction house sold the International section for $750,000 back in 2016, according to court documents filed by Shelly Entner, Marks’ widow and representative of the Stanley A. Marks Revocable Trust.
Since then, the auction house has kept the U.S. stamps, which are valued at $2 million, on consignment.
Entner and her son William went to inspect the collection in April.
“During the visit, Ms. Entner suspected that some of the stamps which were part of the U.S. Collection at the time of consignment in 2016 are missing,” according to the court filings.
The family has asked for the collection’s return but claims that the auction house has obstinately resisted. They allege the auction house requested the widow to pay $56,000 for insurance of the collection and to absolve it from any claims, as mentioned by Entner.
“Ms. Entner will not allow Siegel Auction to exploit her, as they lack the authority to hold a ransom for the return of the stamps,” asserted her attorney, Wendy Lindstrom.
The widow is pursuing damages of no less than $2 million.
In response, Siegel Auction has dismissed the claims as “completely unfounded,” stating that the family thoroughly examined the collection during their April visit and affirmed that “all the stamps are present.”
“Siegel has consistently offered to return the collection to Ms. Entner,” stated attorney Daniel Weiner.
