HONG KONG.- Zurich Asia will hold on 10 & 11 September 2016 its next Hong Kong auction at Harbour Plaza Hotel North Point. Over 3,600 lots of philatelic treasures coveted by discerning collectors and connoisseurs will be offered. Of particular note, a separate catalogue of historical photos will be presented, featuring rare photos taken by war correspondents of newspapers including New York Times and Daily Mail which captured important moments during the reign of Puyi, the last Emperor of China and the Sino-Japanese War.

An extremely rare 1902 mixed franking red band cover from Kiaochow (Estimate: HK$600,000-700,000/ US$76,923-89,744) is one of the top lots in this exciting auction. Registered to Lichtenthal, the cover bears a block of four Dowager first printing 9 candarins dull green stamps with tête-beche, which are also vertically imperforate between varieties. Only three examples of blocks of four with the tête-beche variety of imperforate between have been recorded. The present lot is the only block used on cover with very fine condition.

Another exceptional offering is an 1897 'Round the World' cover registered from Colombia, a truly superb example featuring multiple franking and cancellations (Estimate: HK$300,000-350,000/ US$38,462-44,872). It is franked with stamps from Colombia, USA, Canada, Hawaii, Hong Kong, China, the Dutch East Indies, Transvaal and is cancelled in places including Bogota, San Francisco and Honolulu.

A highlight in the imperial China section is a complete sheet of twenty five 1878 3 candarins red brown 'Large Dragon' unmounted stamps (Estimate: HK$400,000-500,000/ US$ 51,282-64,103).

The sale will also bring together extraordinary stamps of liberated areas and People's Republic of China. One of the star lots is an extremely fine sheet of eighty 1980 Year of the Monkey ('Golden Monkey') stamps in pristine condition and shinny golden colour (Estimate: HK$1.15-1.25 million/ US$147,436-160,256).

Last but not the least is a very scarce 1943 hand-surcharged 10 cents on 1 cent stamp with Chinese character of "Jiaodong" on Shantung Second War Time Posts (Estimate: HK$120,000-150,000/ US$15,385-19,231, Lot 2044). It features a vermilion map of Shantung and surcharged inverted variety.