New Issue Non-Collector Horror Story

My dad who was a non-collector spent several thousands of dollars buying sheets of new issue stamps over many years without asking me or telling me anything. The first mistake was that he never consulted me about this since I know something about stamps as a collector for many years. I would have advised him against this. Someone else who I know bought $10,000 of CAPEX '78 souvenir sheets in the late 1970's. He recently sold them after 30 years of holding on to them for only $3,000 which was a big loss. The second mistake that he made was buying new issues as an investment since it is possible that he will never get back what he paid for them but will get below face on selling them and lose money. The third mistake that he made was buying field stock at his local post office rather than philatelic stock from the Canada Post philatelic center which has greater appeal to collectors and is more collectible. He didn't know that there was any difference between field and philatelic stock which is a mistake that many make. In Canada, the Canada Post philatelic center is where collectors should buy their new issues because that is where one can get stamps that have full intact sheet margins with printer information on them. Those that were sold at post offices had this all trimmed off. All I can say is that I am shocked and upset that my dad did this thinking that he had one clever thing on me by thinking that he knew something more than me when in this case he didn't know more than me. This was money that my dad could not afford to throw away or burn as a retirement investment speculative gamble.

I see that you are upset, and I'd like you to be less upset, especially as Father's Day is right around the corner.

Maybe your dad thought that he was building a Great Big Bonding Love Gift with which to surprise you some day?

Cheers,

/s/ ikeyPikey

I think that as people get older they do things which make them feel good (important, intelligent, clever), but which in fact may not be wise. Perhaps there are ways you can help your father feel important, intelligent and active that would replace the stamp buying activity.

jogil...Buying sheets does have advantages that I see is a good thing..Take for instance my 50 pane sheet of Scott # B4, B5, B6 Water sports of 1975...I can see the red dot on the swimmer's arm and positions of the 5 stamps on the B4 that have this variety..Position (21-25) as per Unitrade...Without that sheet, I would probably have a hard time finding and buying that variety..But, I got them all in one sheet.

Maybe it was a way of trying to get my attention, but we do go together to stamp shows and maybe this is where he got his idea from. However, he didn't buy his stamps from the Canada Post booth at stamp shows. Buying these stamps may have been a way to keep busy by going out and visiting his postal clerk friend. Maybe I am taking my mom's side on this which may explain my reaction since it was my mother that brought this matter to my attention and she may have overreacted causing me to do the same thing too here.

Jogil,
I understand your frustration; but if I may….

Back in the mid-1970s, when I was a teenager, I became interested in stamp collecting. My father thought it a waste of time and often chided me with comments like 'are you sticking stamps again?', his implication being that I could be spending my time more wisely. Frankly over the years our relationship became more stained and eventually we became estranged. By the time he passed a few years back we were barely speaking to each other.

The task of dispositioning his personal effects fell to my sister. She called me and said there were a few items that I really should have; included in them was a full pane of the U.S. #1734 1978 13¢ Indian Head Penny stamps. My father had heard me mention these might become collectable in 1978 and had surreptitiously purchased a sheet without ever mentioning anything to me about it.

This sheet, while never becoming worth more than face value (if that), now stands as one of my most prized possessions. My father may never had been very good at verbalizing his respect for my decisions and opinions but I like to think that this proves he did indeed care.
don

My dad did some simular (maybe not as costly) things. With my interest in fishing and some hunting items he bought 6 duck decoys from a thrift store . I had shown him how crazy the prices can be on some of these things and he spent $150 on them. At that time he was living very pension check to check . As with stamps there are $1000 decoys and $2 decoys . Those 6 fell on the very low end but as 51Studebaker says they are one of my personal prize possesions. I think even though we were close he just wanted to be part of something that excited me. Talk to him and see if he is investing and maybe lean him in a different direction . He may just want to be part of your world and not sure just the right ways. Moms will never understand all the dumb a$$ things we do.

At least he tried that's more than I can say for most of my family. What kills me is that my Father has a super high end coin collection and when he passes I just know that the will all go to my 2 brothers that are closer to him and are alcoholics and will will most probably sell them for beer...I actually collect coins and have had long conversations with him on the numismatic spectrum but I know how he thinks...I'm talking sets of $20. gold pieces and half eagles (most of which I now regret buying him) anyway he will always have a lot of postage!

jogil - this is actually a very common story I'm afraid. My post office employee uncle saved sheets for years on the assumption they would go up in value every year - and if not -w ell at least the purchase price was always there. Two things impacted on this notion: first inflation. A 100 stamp sheet of 1960 1 cent stamps - with inflation - just might be worth 50 cents - if you can find a buyer. And that's the second factor - there are a lot less collectors today than there were 50 years ago, and of those that remain, there's lots of places they can buy what they want. The sad thing is that many of the past generation bought not only stamps by commemorative plates and figurines for the same reason. And they are still doing so. Just watch the ads for "limited edition" junk on T.V.

Truth is, there actually *are* things in life more upsetting than seeing our mothers upset.

But that is a very short list.

Cheers,

/s/ ikeyPikey

My Friend Herb writes:




Cheers,

/s/ ikeyPikey

I think I did something like that just last week!

This certainly is a good basic lesson. Smart financial thinking says we should not spend money in areas we don't fully understand. So sorry it is a tough financial blow, but we all do things that spend (waste?) money. In this case, it was done for a good, positive reason - to show some support to his son - something worth more than money to you, I am sure. Hopefully, the shared lesson will help others and you will recover some of the money. Thanks for being brave and sharing.

Sounds like this is not really about stamps.

While classic stamps might have held their value over the years a little better than mint postage, most common stamps found in a typical collection probably don't fare much better as investment vehicle than mint stamps do. I don't collect stamps as an investment and I'm not suggesting that anyone else do so. There probably aren't a lot of people that think their penny stamps will someday be worth hundreds, but we're kidding ourselves if we think that a collection of those stamps will ever bring ourselves or heirs any significant money. At least 90% of the stamps currently in my collection are basically (monetarily) worthless and in 30 more years, they'll still be just as worthless. If they realize 30% of what I paid for them, even after all those years, that would probably be doing pretty good.

ArtfulHinger - heard on another forum once: I buy at retail and sell at wholesale.