The article discusses the earliest auction sales of stamps. John W. Scott's U.S. company J. W. Scott and Co. held the first ever sale dedicated to stamps in New York City on May 28, 1870. Scott held another sale in 1872 in London, England that was conducted by the auction company Sotheby, Wilkinson and Hodge. Stamp sales in the Netherlands in 1890 by the companies J. H. P. Janse, Bom en Zoon, and Dumans en Vis are also mentioned.