Latest Siegel Auction

Have a look at the latest Siegel auction for the Nick Kirke collection.
This collection is amazing as it is for all XF-Superb material. The prices are outrageous, but the material is amazing. Good bye catalog values on these, and you know a Stamp is going to be expensive when someone starts quoting SMQ prices.

http://www.siegelauctions.com/dynam...sale_no=1032

What is SMQ anyway?

Somebody More Qualified

It's a publication put out by PSE called Stamp market quarterly that overly inflates graded material in the hopes of reviving their grading services.

Here is the SMQ online price list.

http://www.psestamp.com/prices/index.chtml

Ryan

I like your description better than that of Doug, Stallzer. Thanks for the link Ryan.

There is indeed some mouth watering stuff but the prices are really reaching! Outrageous actually.

Outrageous is about right. I am looking at prices realized, and some of these going for 5-10x an alread inflated catalog value. Who has all that money?

Material of that quality will always fetch good premiums and add to that the crowd that Siegel can assemble for this type of auction = out of my league......back to ebay for discount postage for me....

Their printed auction catalogs are like coffee table books - hard bound and high quality printings.

Although the prices are good for today's market, the talk for weeks is that the probability is that he will lose about $1 million relative to his purchase costs, because he bought most of the items at the height of the grading bubble 4-6 years ago.

I am curious as to the type of person who thinks a Scott 206, catalog $1 is so well centered and so rare as to be worth $1,100+20%. Or a 207, catalog 80 cents is so fine as to be worth $700=20%. Or a 212, catalog $2, for $1,000+20%.

Obviously someone who has more money than they know what to do with it.

I think more ego, too.

Personally I think it's a "peeing contest". (if you know what I mean?) How can a scott 65 go for 10K? ridiculous and "none have graded higher" -because it's not worth having them graded in most cases..

50+ years ago when I started collecting coins and stamps, there was only two conditions for each: Stamps, use or unused--Coins, circulated or uncirculated. When the grading system drove the prices out of reach for me I stopped trying to collect coins. I suppose there is plenty of pros and cons about stamp grading, but it sure seems the SMQ is reflecting some pretty inflated values for the average collector. I'm guessing anyone who is paying those kind of prices must be more of an investor than a collector; someone banking on someone else ready to pay even more down the road? Like all of us, I try to get the best I can for what I can afford to pay but these high-end auction houses will never see my money.