How not to make money in stamps

My first investment in stamps

My first experience in stamps taught me some valuable early lessons on how?not?to make money.

As a schoolboy, I was something of a wheeler-dealer in the playground.

When it came to stamps, I thought buying all the new stamp issues and keeping them in perfect condition would make me rich one day.

My father also handed me down his boyhood album, which had been given to him originally by my great uncle, a stamp dealer in Edinburgh.

When I saw so many old stamps in the album from all over the world, I was sure I was already rich.

I was wrong on both counts…

1. Stamps in the 1970s were printed in millions. There are still hundreds of thousands of them around today in perfect mint condition. The largest value any of them could have is by sticking them on an envelope and posting them.
2. My great uncle was a stamp dealer. Naturally, he had taken all the valuable stamps out of the album before giving it to my father. What we were left with was worth very little.

I still enjoyed adding to the collection as a boy and hunting for all those obscure countries in my atlas (before the internet existed, we used such things!).

I was not put off by this early experience in stamps…

How to actually make money in stamps?

Many years later, my life took an unusual turn which brought me back to stamps.

I was offered a position with the oldest stamp dealer in the world, Stanley Gibbons.

I started there in 1999 as Financial Controller and then went on to become Chief Executive four years later.

As I spent time with the philatelic specialists in Stanley Gibbons I soon learned the secret to making money out of stamps…

Focus only on premium quality rare stamps.

But, I wanted to see for myself if this strategy could be a sound investment.

So, in my spare time, I decided to study the historic price data in the Stanley Gibbons catalogues for literally thousands of rare stamps.

I tracked those prices back 50 years from 2004 to 1954.

The results were a revelation to me at the time…

The average annual compound growth rate was?around 10% pa?over the 50-year period of study.

The vast majority of rare stamps showed growth within the range of?5% to 15% pa?over this long term period.

The problem I had was the prices of the rare stamps I studied were all worth ￡thousands.

In 2004, I didn’t have that kind of money to invest.

But, there was one other thing I had noticed whilst working at Stanley Gibbons and spending time with the specialists.

There were still thousands of rare stamps in the world you could purchase for between ￡100 to ￡200.

None of the specialists could really give me a good answer as to why certain rare stamps weren’t as valuable as others.

During an afternoon spent with the top specialist at Stanley Gibbons in British Commonwealth & Empire stamps, I decided I wanted to build a collection.

We worked together to build a collection of rare stamps (all priced between ￡100 and ￡200) with a total value of ￡10,000.

The way I saw it, stamps at this level of rarity at such low prices had good potential for growth over the long term.

Eventually, 15 years later, I decided to sell my first investment in stamps.

I was pleased with the realisation of c.￡27,000. This worked out at?growth of 170%?over the 15 years (11% pa).

That said, I must admit to still feeling some regret, for sentimental reasons, in parting with my first ever investment in stamps.

A proven strategy in making money from stamps?

I’ve already proved this strategy of buying lower value,?premium-quality rare stamps works as an investment over the long term.

Now it’s your chance to benefit…

I’ve replicated the exercise I conducted in 2004 for you.

The collection I have put together for you includes only lower value rare stamps (no more than ￡250) with a total collection value of ￡10,000.

In summary, the British Commonwealth & Empire collection includes:

• 64 stamps from 39 different countries spanning the seven continents of the British Empire, giving wide diversification across a range of collecting areas
• Encompasses over 100 years of postal history from 1864 to 1972 and covers two World Wars
• All stamps included in the collection are rare and are in much better condition than normally seen
• All stamps come with our lifetime moneyback guarantee of authenticity?
• The total collection has a Stanley Gibbons catalogue value of ￡11,821, representing a?15% discount

I recommend you take some time to study each of the rarities in the collection so that you can appreciate their quality, rarity and value.

You can click on the image for each stamp in the collection to read full details in the link below…

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE COLLECTION

In summary, the collection is split as follows:

Africa?

Africa is a key emerging economy and their stamps have shown above average rates of growth in the past five years.

My particular favourite from Africa in the collection is this Rhodesian “double heads” used example with lovely colours and a central circular date stamp…

Rhodesia 1910-13 3d purple and ochre (RSC "I"), perforations 14x15, with lovely colours, centrally cancelled by upright BULAWAYO/RHODESIA circular date stamp, dated "25 JAN 13", SG180 –?PRICE: ￡225

The “double heads”, featuring Queen Mary and King George V, is the most popularly collected stamp issue from Rhodesia.?

They are widely considered in philatelic circles as being amongst the most attractive stamps ever issued in the world. Some go as far as to call them “the greatest stamp of the British Empire”.

Antarctica

The British?Antarctic?Territory was formed on 3 March 1962 after being claimed by Britain as one of its 14 British Overseas Territories. It is by far the largest territory by area, extending to the South Pole.

The?Antarctic?Treaty of 1961 is important historically as it was the first arms control agreement established during the Cold War. The treaty set aside Antarctica as a scientific preserve, provided freedom of scientific investigation and banned military activity on the continent.

There is only one stamp from Antarctica in the collection as it represents a very small area of collecting…

British Antarctic Territory 1971 50p on 10s ultramarine and emerald, "R.M.S. Shackleton", variety WATERMARK INVERTED, SG37w –?PRICE: ￡150?

The watermark varieties from British Antarctica are particularly scarce which is not yet reflected in their current market value.

This inverted watermark variety is a particularly pleasing marginal example in “Post Office fresh” condition.

Asia

Asian countries within the British Commonwealth have shown the highest levels of growth over the past 10 years, most notably, India.

Auction realisations in this area are currently very strong, suggesting prices in Stanley Gibbons catalogues should see imminent uplifts.

The theme of the increasing number of individuals entering the middle class bracket in Asia should ensure this trend of rising prices has much further to run.

Although the collection contains two Indian rarities, I think this stamp from Palestine is quite special…

Palestine 1920-21 5p purple, type 5 overprint, perforations 14, SG43 –?PRICE: ￡140?

This stamp, first issued in 1920, caused significant controversy. As Palestine was under the civil administration of the British Mandate of Palestine, it issued stamps bearing three official languages: English, Arab and Hebrew. Local Jews and Arabs lobbied the British about the overprint.

The Jewish members of the Advisory Council objected to the Hebrew transliteration of the word "Palestine", on the grounds that the traditional name was “Eretz Yisrael”, but the Arab members would not agree to this designation, which, in their view, had political significance.

The High Commissioner therefore decided, as a compromise, that the Hebrew transliteration should be used, followed always by the two initial letters of "Eretz Yisrael", Aleph Yod. This combination was then used on all stamps of Palestine, coins and in all references in official documents.

It is a stunning quality example of this scarce stamp and I am able to include it in the collection at a?38% discount?to the Stanley Gibbons catalogue value.

Europe

A smaller proportion of the collection has been allocated to European countries within the British Commonwealth than I included in my own first investment in stamps.

This is because this area of the market has been the most subdued in recent years, particularly Great Britain. However, I remain bullish on the prospects of the British stamp market for the next 5 to 10 years.

I am most bullish on the market for Queen Elizabeth II stamp errors where prices look undervalued by the market at the moment…

Great Britain 1972 3p Christmas error, SG914c. Superb Post Office fresh unmounted mint, with full original gum, example with bluish violet (embroidery) omitted. Offered with normal for comparison –?PRICE: ￡225?

Despite modern automated printing processes reducing the number of errors occurring, no system is perfect. A small number of mistakes can happen despite rigorous quality controls in place throughout?the?process.

Errors occurring in modern printing techniques have created some of?the?rarest and most visually striking stamps in?the?world.

Because they are so rare,?the?reign of Queen Elizabeth II has become?the?golden era of British stamp errors for collectors.

Furthermore, they remain surprisingly affordable and accessible to a large number of collectors - creating a vibrant market.

This error is one of just 100 mint examples in existence.

North America

North America has always been an area of the stamp market, showing long term stable price appreciation, although slightly sluggish in recent years, but now starting to pick up again.

The collection includes some special attention to Canadian stamps, a well-supported area of the market famous for the quality of their designs…?

Canada Special Delivery 1927 Confederation 20c orange, horizontal pair, imperforate vertically, SGS5 –?PRICE: ￡150?

This lovely commemorative issue, marking the 60th?anniversary of the Canada Confederation, is exceedingly rare as an imperforate pair.

Only 250 pairs originally existed, with fewer surviving examples conserved in this pristine condition. Despite its rarity and a catalogue value of ￡190, which seems too low, it is included in the collection at a?21% discount.

Oceania

Stamps from Australia and New Zealand feature in the collection, both being large markets with a particularly passionate home market of collectors.

However, this rare error from the remote South Pacific island of Tonga is my personal favourite…

Tonga 1962 (7 Feb) "Emancipation" 5s orange-yellow and slate-lilac, type 59 overprint, ERROR OVERPRINT INVERTED, SG127a –?PRICE: ￡225?

The inverted overprint on this stamp is very rare, being from the one sheet of 60 discovered. This example was acquired by Stanley Gibbons and exhibited at Stampex in March 1962. It is also accompanied by a Stanley Gibbons certificate of authenticity.

The stamp features the “Mutiny on the Bounty” and is in perfect unmounted mint condition.?

The overprinted stamps were issued in celebration of the Centenary of Emancipation.?Emancipation Day remains a public holiday in the Kingdom of Tonga to this day, celebrating the abolition of the system of serfdom which had been used by the local chiefs for centuries as a means of forced labour.

On June 4th 1862, Tonga's first Christian king, George Tupuo I, declared the abolition of serfdom in the official emancipation edict as part of his 1862 Code of Laws.

South America

The small number of British Commonwealth colonies in South America have proved most attractive to collectors. The most popular is British Guiana, which is famous for having the world’s most valuable stamp, the 1856 1c Magenta.

The Falkland Islands are also hugely popular, with a very large collector base. This is partly because of the quality of their stamp issues such as this set of classic miniature works of art…

Falkland Islands Dependencies 1954-62 'Ships' set of 15 to ￡1, SGG26/40 –?PRICE: ￡195

This set of stamps,?featuring a variety of sailing ships,?epitomises the beauty in the designs emanating from the Falkland Islands.

They also benefit from being in fine unmounted mint condition. The set is particularly desirable because most of the stamps are marginal examples from the printing sheets.

How to purchase the ￡10,000 British Commonwealth & Empire collection

The collection is available at a?15% discount?to the current Stanley Gibbons catalogue value and comprises stamps I consider undervalued by the market with room for considerable long term growth in value.

To secure the collection for the price of ￡10,000 ($12,000), please respond to me at?[email protected]?as soon as possible and I will reserve the collection for you immediately.

Alternatively, give us a call on +44(0)1534 639998 or message us to +44(0)7700702962.

Once you have purchased the collection:

1. We will issue your invoice and our certificates of authenticity,?giving you a lifetime moneyback guarantee of authenticity
2. You have 28 days to change your mind and cancel your purchase, without any reason needed. It is important to us that you are entirely happy with your purchase
3. We are able to offer secure storage and insurance if you would prefer to avoid the hassle of holding your stamps at home
4. We will provide you with annual valuation reports so you can track the progress of your collection over time
5. We will relish the opportunity to get the collection back from you when you want to sell in the future

If you want to “dip your toes” into the rare stamp market with just a small capital outlay like I did all those years ago, then this is your best chance.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Kind regards

?

Mike Hall, CEO

PS.?You are benefiting here from?my personal selections.?I believe I have an eye for quality thanks to more than two decades in the business and an eye for value thanks to my background as a Chartered Accountant. I am unlikely to find the time again anytime soon to do this exercise for you, so I suggest you take advantage of it.

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