Remember how we all collected stamps back in the 60’s?
I certainly could use a Payday Loan at this moment. Collecting stamps was the rage all those years ago. There were articles in the newspapers and every city had stamp dealers. Most of the collectors did it for the hobby while others thought about future values. Stamp values always increased.
40 years later
40 years later I’m sitting with a cupboard full of stamp albums. Stamp collecting went out of fashion when countries began issuing huge numbers of stamps. The hobby also faded against the competition of electronic games and computers.
I never thought twice
I too moved on in the computer age, but my stamp collection occupied valuable space in the cupboards in my study. I knew it was there within easy reach any time I got the urge to pull out the magnifying glass and check the little pieces of paper for a misprint that would make it worth millions. The years passed and every time I saw my wife eyeing the stamp cupboard while in search of extra storage space, I would quickly explain that inside the cupboard was not a stamp collection, but our retirement fund. It was a comforting thought.
I take a Payday Loan to make sure
The weather last summer was brutal. It’s all part of global warming, I understand, but the humidity went through the roof. I suddenly thought of all those mint stamps and how the humidity might be affecting them. I decided to hermetically seal the stamp cupboard and I called in a carpenter for a quote. The price was horrendous. My wife yelled about the outfit that I had nixed the week before. Our retirement fund, I explained, and took a Payday Loan to pay the carpenter.
Back to the future
With possible humidity damage to my valuable stamp collection safely behind me, I went back to writing the great American novel. I was on page 323 and all was going according to plan. There were a few anxious moments, like when the sub-prime mortgage scandal surfaced. I read the papers, shuddered, cast a glance at my hermetically sealed retirement fund and started a new chapter, always a milestone event. I reckoned I was halfway through the story and that the second half would be a breeze.
More money problems
One day there was a twitch on the stock exchange where the other half of my retirement fund was living in secure comfort. I groaned, sent a few choice four-letter words in the direction of the stock exchange and lovingly stroked the stamp cupboard. We don’t need that old stock exchange, do we? I whispered. Cupboard remained silent but I took it that he agreed. I continued with chapter 59.
Out for dinner
A selection of Hong Kong postage stamps
At the Simpson’s the other evening I was introduced to Phil, a well-known philatelist. I settled back to let him bring me up to date on the stamp market and my collection, aka my retirement fund. It didn’t take long. “It’s all gone down the drain. Very few stamps have any value. The whole market just collapsed,” he explained angrily. I guess he had a retirement fund as well.
Now what?
I grabbed my wife and we raced home. Between us we typed the final chapter of the novel, leaving out the last 200 pages. I need an editor urgently and I need a Payday Loan to pay the editor. I want this book, aka my retirement fund, in the bookstores by Christmas.
Oh, man. That is unfortunate. A lot of people lost a lot, in 401(k)s, IRAs, mutual funds that all tanked – but I thought that certain things like stamps, gold, vintage guitars, and some other collectible commodities were almost always a solid thing. (Heck, an Action Comics #1, the debut of Superman original goes for over a million bucks.) Wow – good luck with your novel.
First let me say, I’m sorry you are experiencing financial difficulty. A lot of people think they can buy just any old stamps and they will appreciate in value to the point where you can send a kid through college or retire when you sell them.
Unfortunately that is not the case.
First and foremost one must know what stamps to purchase if financial gain is your objective. You need to educate yourself or have someone who is knowledgeable about investing in stamps advise you.
Usually the stamps that appreciate the most were issued before 1920 in superb condition (not neccesarily unused). Because they were issued in relatively small numbers and the demand for them is consistantly high, they go up in value.
Like any other investment, it’s a matter of supply and demand.
Personally, I believe because of the Internet, the stamp hobby is stronger than ever. You can buy, sell and trade stamps with people around the world who are willing to pay top dollar for quality material.
For anyone that invested in the -hobby- of philately with the hopes of a guaranteed return, you are learning the sad fact that all collectibles are subject to the same principles of supply and demand as every other commodity.
Philately is a great hobby to learn things about the subject matter depicted on stamps, how the stamps or made, or even the countries they come from. Rarely do collectors realize any profit from their accumulation/collection. Often, their heirs are lucky to see a few dollars from the entire 100 pounds plus of collection, albums supplies and storage container.
If you are listening to anyone who states that they can provide you a guaranteed return on soon-to-be-issued stamps, run, or better yet, report them to your local BBB and Attorney General.
Remember, philately is only a hobby and should never be relied on as a source of income. It’s not like numismatics, where you can always spend the collection if nobody will pay face value for it.
I am a former collector now a stamp dealer. I attend stamp club sponsored stamp fairs 3 weekends out of 4 throughout the season. I see throngs of collectors, young and old, who come out to these shows. This experience, along with my correspondence with other dealers, particularly in the Far East, would lead one to surmise that news of the death of philately is somewhat premature.
Regarding my own stamp collection. It formed the nucleus of my dealer stock, and continues to bring me rewards through sales to other collectors whom I am glad to say enjoy my little traasures.
Allan Singer
I am appalled that someone posing as a well-known philatelist would give you such poor advise. Classic US and foreign stamps are holding their value well (especially if they are in sound condition and relatively well centered). On the other hand, if you spent $1000s of dollars on cheap ordinary stamps, then like anything else that is cheap, you were buying them for the enjoyment you got from collecting and little more. If you were a golfer, would you expect to buy your clubs and pay years of green fees and get money back when you hung up the clubs? With stamp collecting, if you purchased carefully (chosing scarce or rare stamps) you could expect to get back a good percentage of what you spent and have the years of enjoyment from the hunt. Not many other hobbies would give you that.
On the topic of collateralizing a collection, are there any companies that will do this?
David C.