I have a question. How valuable would a stamp kept in good condition be in 200 years? What are some rare stamps that cost less than $500?
There has never been a stamp 200 years old Jen. So I would have to guess and say around 42. The question now is 42 what? Oh and don't give any money to the Unicorns, it only encourges them!
A lot would depend on the rate of inflation Jen and what stamp you are talking about. Now as for the under $500 while not rare as such you could buy a nice Penny Black and have quite a bit of change LOL Just had a quick look on ebay and there is 600+ for sale
Other factors involved would be quantity of mintage and use of the stamp for that period. Stamps were pumped way back in the 80's and 90's as a means of long term investment and artificially inflated the price of some issues. It took a while to get things back under control where most stamps are now considered within the grasp of the average to above average collector. However one thing was proven during that little failed experiment is that they are NOT an acceptable investment tool.
Which kind of stamps or sets of stamps have been printed in small quantities. What I mean to ask is what stamps were printed in small number...? not really "rare" but not common either.
There are thousands of different stamps and stamp sets from all over the world that have been printed in smaller quantities. You may be able to go to a country's postal service website to get this information, otherwise, some country specific catalogs include it. The Korean stamp catalog published in Korea includes it but you would not find this information in the Scott catalog in the US.
Good question ! Maybe some could be shown here what you think may be scarce and of value. What is scarce now and not of significant value presently ? Here are two:- View attachment 2700 Used you may still find a few but I have not seen any with a first day cancel.
Gosh what a thought provoking question. I know that in real terms a penny black was like paying £47 at the time?
Rare today.....rare tomorrow. tu7 you're correct that few people bought the high value stamps in previous years, therefore the mintage numbers are usually lower! Look at U.S. philately and the high value stamps that are usually selling for a high price: Scott 39, Scott 122, Scott 263 and so forth. Today those stamps might be rare color varieties, perforation types or other distinguishing features. Being wired into the philatelic press is essential in being tuned into these modern rareties and jumping in and acquiring them early is also essential. Some of the modern U.S. stamps would include: Special die cut Bugs Bunny sheetlet Scott 3138 Scarce perf. 11 Hank Williams plate block Scott 2723A Small date flag over porch sheet Scott 2920c Legends of the West error sheet Scott 2670 Rare die-cut Riverboat sheetlet Scott 3091-3095a
Tu7, you posted a ink to a seller of Penny Blacks etc. I noticed there was a quite a range of prices. Some going for 8 pounds, other over 300. What would be the reason for such a drastic price difference? I figure condition, its hard to really see condition in a picture...what else?
As for the US issued stamps, one could probably add: Space exploration souvenir sheets (SC 3409-15); sold for about $60 in 1999 - cataloging for $215 US Navy submarines booklet (SC3377a); booklet sold for ~$10 in 2000 - cataloging for ~$100 Columbus 1994 souvenir sheet set (6); sold for $17.44 in 1994 - now cataloging for $65 Presidential souvenir sheets; $7.92 in 1986 - now cataloging for $42. Many of the mint Express and Priority mail stamps cost a bunch (2x) because most people didn't want to tie up that kind of money for a small scrap of paper. None of them should be considered 'investments' because they can probably still be picked up at about 1/2 of catalog. The issue that makes them 'rare' is that they were limited in availability at the post offices and required special order or purchase at major stamps show, e.g. Pacifica '97, or purchase only thru the US Philatelic Fulfillment center. I used some high value space stamps for a special shipment, and the postal clerks were even unaware of that particular issue.
Thanks Larry! I had no idea about some of the items you mentioned. Glad I picked up most of them back in the day. I was aware of the Space Exploration press sheet because I read about it recently in the philatelic press. You're certainly right about caution with respect to any of the modern stamps being looked upon as "investments". There isn't enough of a track record for them to warrant that distinction. If any of them were to make themselves available to me at a reasonable price I'd take the risk though. LOL!
The white bits at the edges are called margins Sarah. For a stamps to be good value it has to have nice wide margins. As the stamps came on sheets and were cut out by post office workers, or in extreme cases even torn this is a valueing tool. A zero margin penny black is therefore quite affordable. Then there were 12 runs of printing, twice on metal plate 1 and once on the ascending numpers up to 11. Not all the runs were of the same number though, obviously the stamps that were printed in the lowest number tend to have the best price put on them. Then there are watermarks and sheet postion to consider too. If you want me to go deeper into it I will but I will only do so if you are still interested. Or I could just show you a picture of my 55 penny black [gloating ridiculously at this point]
"None of them should be considered 'investments' because they can probably still be picked up at about 1/2 of catalog." Long term investments then Larry?
Personally, I think it is based on rarity and how many collectors are willing to buy it. Just like in a bidding, the price can go high as much as the collectors' determination to have a stamp or how much they are willing to spend for it. The demand and the supply affects the price of commodities.
