Help Please

[stormtrupa]

Hi. I have 4 ultra rare Asswan Dam postcards circa 1902 and written by Sir A Webb (one of the top engineers on the construction). They are in fair to good condition and are relating to a visit of a duke and dutchess to the dam. There are some facts on the resources used to build the dam as well.
A gentleman took a look at my collection last week and wanted to buy them. I have no idea of their worth. Would anyone know of a good valuer in the Stoke on Trent area of uk who could help put a valuation on these.


HISTORICAL REPORT ON THE DAM.


It is reported that in 1902, the first year after completion of the barrage, the
annual Nile flood was very low and exceptionally late. All through August
the river levels remained stubbornly low, leading to the potentially
catastrophic loss of a significant portion of Egypt’s crops going unirrigated.
On August 15th Sir A. L. Webb, Director General of Reservoirs (he had
succeeded Mr W J Wilson in the post upon the latter’s death in August
1900, who in turn had succeeded Mr Willcocks in 1898), travelled to Assiut,
and on arrival decided to utilise the barrage gates to raise the Nile level
upstream of the barrage by some 1.50 m. This was a risky decision but it
was crowned with success. The resulting irrigation of the crops was
estimated at the time to have saved Egypt 600,000 Pounds Sterling.
Leliavsky (1934a) records that this is an instance unique in the field of
irrigation engineering, where a structure repays two-thirds of its capital
costs within a few months of completion


As you can see. Webb was a very important engineer on this monumentus project.

[eastlondonpostcard]

- ultra rare, eh? - would be nice to see these if you can get them on-line - the value depends on their appeal to collectors of course - in this case it may appeal to Royalty collectors too - for a local dealer try the Potteries Postcard Society; they meet 4th Monday of each month at St Peters Methodist Hall, Pilkington Avenue, Westlands, Newcastle-under-Lyme - contact their secretary Roger Simmons on 01782 776845