Most You Have Paid For A Stamp!

In 1989 I paid $AUD1,600 for the 20s postage due SG D44 used. Still the most I have paid for a single item. Now worth........about what I paid for it.

I haven't answered this question yet, so let me weigh in...

I have spent:

• THOUSANDS on hingeless albums;
• HUNDREDS more on catalogues and books;
• another COUPLE HUNDRED on stock books, vario pages, and binders;
• at least ONE HUNDRED more on glassines, tongs, and miscellaneous supplies;
• ONE HUNDRED on three or four different magnifiers;

... and then I bought a small lot of 3¢ stamps for FACE VALUE

KirkS

P.S. I'm shopping for a new lamp; I don't like the first two I've tried...

Heres my example A..a guy that spends a small fortune on hingeless albums but refuses to spend on stamps !!

I have limits. I have only spent more than a $100.00 for a single stamp a few times. For many years I proudly said I have never spent more than $100.00 on stamps at one time. The most I spent on a single stamp was about $180.00 including the buyers premium and tax on the first US #1 I bought. I now have three loose #1's. The most I spent for a single cover was $117.00 (including the shipping)on ebay for a U.S. #1 on cover. I don't specialize in #1's. Those are the only four I own. When I collected as a kid those were kind of my "holy grail". I always said I would get one some day.
The most I spent on stamps in a single purchase was $800.00. It was a fascinating collection from the estate of a cover collector. At the time that was a lot of money for me to justify spending on stamps. There was just so much great and truly rare items that I just had to do it.
The most I spent at a show was $400.00.
I am not a big spender and purchases such as these are way out of the norm for me. I went to a show this weekend and spent $12.00. That is much closer to normal.
....and if any of you tell me wife.... just kidding she knows about the big purchases. What she is not fully aware of is how much all the "little" purchases add up to!

Now I am rambling, but I remember spending $7.00 for a US #119 when I was 12 years old. It cataloged for about $35.00 at the time. It was poorly centered and had an ink smudge cancel. It was a big deal for me at the time and somehow made me feel like a more serious collector. I loved that series. I still have the stamp. I have mentioned it here before. It is in my US album even though I now have better copies of the stamp.

KirkS..your reply to this post and run down of expenses incurred over the years...made me laugh..made me smile..good on ya! Thanks.

I think the most I spent on a stamp was $10.00..that's my limit for a single stamp.Then again I just spent $110...on a small collection of German covers and postcards from the Third Reich period.

Kirk, that was truly enjoyable.

Pj - I completely get the personal "Holy Grail", Mine are any Queen Victoria stamps (especially the ones with the side profile bust). When I was a kid, I remember my neighbor showing me his and I was hooked on those. Got a few bids going on ebay, not too expensive though.

About 2005 or '06, I paid just under $7,000 US for a fairly comprehensive collection of Portuguese India. I probably overpaid as it turned out to have a couple dozen Fournier forgeries/facsimiles of the surcharged Crown issues (base stamps were Fourniers, so never considered the surcharges). But the opportunity to get so many P.I. stamps at one time was too great to pass up.

Back in 1980, paid $800 for a decent used copy of Canada #16. Sold it around 2005-06 for a loss. But then, this is a hobby, not an investment.

The "catch" with stamp collecting is anyone can own the ordinary..so its natural to want to "break out" and get something thats a bit out of the ordinary...you will know it when you see it !!

I paid $150.00 for a UN #38 SS in the late 1970's.. Now I can get 3 or 4 for that price. Oh well, I was very happy at the time.

I have spent more then others and not as much as others..

Let's just say, I have walked out of a stamp show much poorer then when I went in.

$5000 CAD for a sheet of Canada Year of the Pig error stamps (missing gold). No catalogue value and frequently forged. I bought it the year the error was discovered so was swept up with the hype =(

The most I've ever paid for a stamp, 46c for a forever stamp to mail a letter for my wife. That's 1c more than the previous postage stamp I bought (also to mail a letter for her).

That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

k

P.S. -- Click on the member "Google" in the Members Online Now section of the SCF homepage.

khj,
That's so sweet. and I thought my shovel was just for snow this time of year.

Nitrolures
Where oh where did you find the other high value Jubilees? And were the prices right? I owned and sold nice mint copies of the low values to 50 cents years ago and have finally managed to replace them. But I'm in awe of the prices being asked for the high values on ebay. Will take a while for me to find affordable copies.