Got To Look At A Collection Today I *wish* I Could Buy...

Local shop owner bought a collection over the weekend that came in over the counter. All sorts of interesting country collections, most of which were missing most keys but had huge extended runs of completeness from the 1930s into the 1980s. The Russia was pretty decent, including many of the early airmail sets mint.

The jawdropper though, was the People's Republic of China collection. The dealer knew that PRC was hot, but he didn't realize just how hot.

I got a brief chance to sit down and go over it, and immediately knew it was WAY out of my price range. He initially said he was going to try and get 1/3 of Scott for it from a local couple, but I told him absolutely not! Given what this material is going for online, he should easily be able to get 50% of Scott if not more.

Page after page of complete mint sets from the 1960s through the 1980s in an old world album; most sets in mounts. Not entirely complete, but plenty of $500+ and $1,000+ items. Without going through it depth, my guess is that it will fetch in the $15-25K range if he finds the right buyer.

If only I had the means. :(

I'm going to see if he'll let me take it home for an evening just to scan it; I doubt I'll see a collection like this again.

On the upside, he was so thrilled about that Chinese collection that he sold me collections of Germany and Canada at just ridiculously low prices. Even though I didn't need them, I would have been crazy to pass them by. I'll try and get some pictures together just for grins.

Even just to see such a collection is a reward in itself I feel.

Good going on the Canada and Germany too!

revenuecollector
It looks like a great adventure visiting your dealer. I never bought a collection at my counter dealer. Never ask to show me some thinking he's asking high prices for them. I did buy collections on ebay and on a dealer website from the Netherlands. I think getting good deals depends on the financial situation of the dealer. Some can't afford to keep in stock a large number of collections they just sell quickly for whatever they can get. Also many don't sell on the net so all their collections stay available to the walk in costumer. Finally when economics is bad many collectors try to sell their collections and the dealer offers less and less. Then they are willing to offer them at a discount prices. Thanks for sharing your story. Daniel

there are some beautiful things to see out there...i just figure we all do the best we can !!

So, why are PRC stamps such a hot ticket item these days?

It's because the Chinese middle class are trying to reclaim that which was lost during the Chinese Cultural Revolution. Anything and everything Chinese is in high demand, and prices of China stamps are representative of what all Chinese collectible markets are like right now.

This article is a fascinating read:




http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_Revolution

Brian

I recall reading someplace that Mao banned philately after the revolution. When I was in college in the mid 90's a friend of mine used to go to China to teach English for the summer. He was heavily into coins and always came back with some amazing US material he'd picked up "for next to nothing" (his words). I could kick myself for not asking him about stamps!