Philately
Estates, individuals, and collectors often seek our assistance in the sale of stamp collections. Typically they are either large collections that have been in family’s for many generations, just a few rare stamps that have been saved over time, and sometimes it was a hobby that turned into grand collection.
“Stamp collecting” is simply the accumulation of material related to the payment of postage and postal history. In addition to the traditional postage stamps, many philatelists also collect envelopes, markings or labels applied to mail, and postage meters. Some will also collect Christmas Seals, revenue stamps and other items related to the collection of stamps.
Some collections started out as a hobby with the chance they might discover a rare stamp that could be worth a great deal as we occasionally see happen with baseballs cards or hockey sticks sold in thrift shops or online where the seller is unaware of the treasure they hold.
Collectors of course collect as an investment. It is not widely known but it is said that stamp collecting is a better investment than many other hobbies as stamps are mini works of art.
It is interesting to know that President Franklin Roosevelt was one of the most famous U.S. collector of the past, but some well known collectors of today include Mark Cuban, Gary Burghoff, James Earl Jones; Maria Sharapova, Ron Wood and cartoonist Gary Trudeau. The late John Lennon & Freddy Mercury were also collectors, so that pretty much ‘puts the stamp’ on the cool factor.
One of the most value stamps ever sold at auction was the British Guiana, One-Cent (Black and Magenta) stamp. It fetched $9.5 million from an anonymous bidder via telephone in June 2014. Oddly the price was below the estimate price of $10-$20 million, but still an impressive showing for a single stamp. The stamp was from the estate of John Eleuthère Du Pont, an heir to the chemical company, who was convicted of murdering Olympic wrestler David Schultz in 1997. Apparently the rare stamp was initially discovered by a 12-year-old boy in 1873, then sold to numerous collectors over the years. It accrued in value until du Pont bought it for $935,000 in 1980. Du Pont died in prision in 2010 at age 67 and in his will he designated 20% of the stamp’s proceeds to the wildlife foundation and 80% to former wrestler Valentin Jordanov Dimitrov.
We have the ability to market stamp collections, of any size, world wide as well as to our local network of buyers, collectors, and investors. As we are also appraisers, each individual stamp and item is reviewed for value before the collection is set for private or public sale or auction. We market the collection and work until we have exhausted all opportunities, worldwide, in order to achieve the highest return for our clients.
