What stamps are good investments?

[pepper]

Which stamps are good ones to invest in?

 

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[West Jersey Detecting]

Which stamps are good ones to invest in?

I always shy away from stamps for investment. With coins, you are partially tied to the commodities market. Paper has no market value. Stamps are simply supply and demand, and therefore are not typically a solid investment (with the exception of rarities). I recommend collecting stamps only as an interest; possibly topicals which are stamps with themes (sports, dinosaurs, famous people) or by country.

 

[Diggincoinz]

I don't know diddly about foreign stamps but with the U.S. stamps the better values are pre-1920. But then you also get into differant perfs and ink coloring and sizes in millimeters. Also watermarks and printing papers colors. It can be confusing though.

However, not all pre-1920's are good keepers. The most common issues (1 & 2 centers) never have had much collector values to them. Getting into the higher denominations (5-30 centers) will be worth more as they are harder to come by, scarcer. Typically just the older issues, a 50 center from 1940 still and may not be worth diddly. But a 20 center from the early 1900's could be worth hundreds.

But like any collectable, the overall condition determains the value.

 

[Drudge]

I have my dads collection of foreign and domestic stamps from the 40's and 50's. There are about 1000 of them and from my understanding unless there is an error stamp it wont be worth much.

 

[leslie(nova scotia)]

yo Pepper

From the land of the Bluenose....stamps as an investment is an unwise venue. Having been a collector for over 45 years (started at 8) you must collect for the enjoyment. Classic stamps tend to hold their own and condition and demand dictate the selling price. For example Canadian issues from 1955 on sell at below face so better to use as postage. There are exceptions but like everything else the joy of the collection is worth it to you ..........to others............maybe!

 

[jimb]

Pepper, A dealer will give you only a percentage of the value of your stamps when you go to sell. But if you want some stamps to invest in get the rarest ones. They are always going up in value. German stamps are expensive and early U.S. are expensive. But remember there are MANY fakes out there so be very careful when buying stamps. And like someone else said, collect them for the fun of it! jimb

 

[Slingshot]

I would steer clear of investing in stamps without about 20 years collecting experience under your belt. There are too many ways you can be taken to the cleaners with stamps as they are a very complex item. There are people who make a good living repairing stamps that are damaged and not worth much because of their condition, but they have a high catalog value. Then they sell them to unwary collectors, dealers, and investors for the high catalog value. An expert can tell if a stamp has been patched, put together from several different stamps, regumming stamps that have lost their gum over the years, perforating straight edged stamps, reperforating common stamps to make them appear to be a rarer variety, printing fake overprints on common stamps to resemble rare stamps, and etc... Then there are forgers who engrave their own plates, and print stamps that resemble rare ones so well that they can fool even experts.

 

[shaun7]

Pepper, A dealer will give you only a percentage of the value of your stamps when you go to sell. But if you want some stamps to invest in get the rarest ones. They are always going up in value. German stamps are expensive and early U.S. are expensive. But remember there are MANY fakes out there so be very careful when buying stamps. And like someone else said, collect them for the fun of it! jimb

sorry to jump in here but i was looking on here for a friend who has found quite a large collection of stamps in a loft (attick) whilst refurbishing a house!
he read your post and remembered that there are stamps in there with adolf hitler on them amongst others, some from the 1800s!

is there a sight anywhere for iding stamps. sorry i know nothing about them!

thanks shaun

 

[Siegfried Schlagrule]

the best investment so far has been the forever stamps. They sold for current prices and once the price went up their value went up. If you get them in large quantities you can always sell them for face value and make your money that way. If you use a lot of stamps you just make your money by saving your money. Collector value on those will always be near zero. Only the unused ones will have value.
siegfried schlagrule

 

[Siegfried Schlagrule]

Pepper, A dealer will give you only a percentage of the value of your stamps when you go to sell. But if you want some stamps to invest in get the rarest ones. They are always going up in value. German stamps are expensive and early U.S. are expensive. But remember there are MANY fakes out there so be very careful when buying stamps. And like someone else said, collect them for the fun of it! jimb

most libraries have recent copies of the Scott stamp catalogs. You can learn the prices there. You will note that for each country there is a break point beyond which stamps have little value and before which stamps have an increased value. The increased value stamps are usually called classics. When you get to the minimal value period the stamps that are worth a premium are few and far between. good luck looking up those stamps. Also it's nearly impossible to get even 25% of catalog value for common stamps. Maybe up to 50% for the classics and truly rare ones. siegfried schlagrule


sorry to jump in here but i was looking on here for a friend who has found quite a large collection of stamps in a loft (attick) whilst refurbishing a house!
he read your post and remembered that there are stamps in there with adolf hitler on them amongst others, some from the 1800s!

is there a sight anywhere for iding stamps. sorry i know nothing about them!

thanks shaun

I just noticed your brit flag. many folks in europe collect stamps and there is a good trade in them. See your phone or google listings for "philatelist" or "stamp dealers" for the location of the nearest dealer to your home. good luck, siegfried schlagrule

 

[shaun7]

Pepper, A dealer will give you only a percentage of the value of your stamps when you go to sell. But if you want some stamps to invest in get the rarest ones. They are always going up in value. German stamps are expensive and early U.S. are expensive. But remember there are MANY fakes out there so be very careful when buying stamps. And like someone else said, collect them for the fun of it! jimb

most libraries have recent copies of the Scott stamp catalogs. You can learn the prices there. You will note that for each country there is a break point beyond which stamps have little value and before which stamps have an increased value. The increased value stamps are usually called classics. When you get to the minimal value period the stamps that are worth a premium are few and far between. good luck looking up those stamps. Also it's nearly impossible to get even 25% of catalog value for common stamps. Maybe up to 50% for the classics and truly rare ones. siegfried schlagrule


sorry to jump in here but i was looking on here for a friend who has found quite a large collection of stamps in a loft (attick) whilst refurbishing a house!
he read your post and remembered that there are stamps in there with adolf hitler on them amongst others, some from the 1800s!

is there a sight anywhere for iding stamps. sorry i know nothing about them!

thanks shaun

I just noticed your brit flag. many folks in europe collect stamps and there is a good trade in them. See your phone or google listings for "philatelist" or "stamp dealers" for the location of the nearest dealer to your home. good luck, siegfried schlagrule

thanks i'll try that