Ryan Avent links to a report that the market for rare stamps is heating up:
The wave of Chinese money that has crashed through the markets for fine wine, art and antiques is now flooding into the altogether sleepier world of stamp collecting. At an auction in Hong Kong this week, a rare block of four stamps from
the Cultural Revolution sold for HK$8,970,000 (US$1.1m) — an all-time record for a Chinese stamp or multiple. Including a 15 per cent buyer’s fee, the anonymous buyer paid over US$1.3m for the stamps.
This reminds me of something totally unrelated to Ryan’s point, namely that it’s surprising how inexpensive lots of old stamps are. A couple of weeks ago I noticed a dusty stamp album sitting in one of my bookshelves and realized that I’d never actually opened it up. I don’t know where it came from, but it’s dated 1940 and I assume it must have been my father’s.
Anyway, I took a look inside, and on the very first page there was a stamp from 1851. This was part of the second series of stamps ever released in the United States — issued before the perforated stamp revolution of 1857 — and you’d think it might be worth something, even in used condition. But no. According to this site, it’s worth at most either $70 or $7 depending on whether it’s orange-brown or dull red. What do you think? Looks like orange-brown to me, which makes it worth $70. Maybe.
Cheap! And that’s for one of the earliest stamps ever issued in America. I guess stamp collecting must be a pretty accessible hobby — though they make up for the low prices with a fantastic array of varieties and special issues. Still, a bargain compared to coin collecting.
