Question For Big Blue Experts

Thanks for pointing this out. I don't understand how they will handle bidding--how can they offer the whole 42-volumes as a single lot (3404) while also taking bids on individual segments (3369-3403)??

They add all the 33 winning bids up and if some one bids more than that they take it away. My friend ran a local auction and did that all the time and us bidders hated it.

Here's a thought

I've got a spare 3 mil hanging around, I buy the complete world stamp collection. And then what?

I assume most of those 1200 missing stamps won't be attainable, these would include the British Guiana, the Tre Skilling, Z-Grill, etc, which means I've got everything that's out there. There's nothing left to collect. Oh yes, I can get my new-issue dealer to keep me up to date, but there's no effort in that. I don't have to do anything, I don't have to scour the stamp fairs & exhibitions for that elusive perf variety. I don't have to drool over that display - I have it. The thrill of the chase is gone.

In effect, I stop being a collector & turn into an admirer of what I've got. Wait a minute, 600k stamps, when am I going to get the time to look at this? I barely have time to deal with Poland & it's occupations & plebiscites, I really should do something about those 1000+ Postal Cards, my Aussie collection is orphaned.

I'm by no means suggesting that I wouldn't like a collection of this sort, a museum? sorry, it stays at home, "My Precious". But honestly, what would I do with it?

As a followup to YeaPolska's post, what could a collector do if they bought the complete world collection? Some thoughts:

1) Interestingly, the 1200 missing stamps includes a fair number that aren't that expensive (certainly not to someone with $3M hanging around). But I assume that most of them are elusive and would take time to acquire.

2) The collection doesn't include US (which may also mean Hawaii, etc.). That should keep one occupied for several years (unless, of course, you go out and buy the most complete US collection available).

3) As YeaPolska points out, you will have to keep up with all new issues past 2010. (The Scott catalog value for 2012 was $25K+, for example.)

4) If you let others know you have this, I imagine you would spend a great deal of time answering questions as well as evangelizing our hobby by displaying parts of the collection to collectors and non-collectors alike. At the very least, there would be value to having it scanned and readily accessible on the Internet.

I suspect it might be something like owning one of the great English stately homes. Or to paraphrase Spiderman: with a great collection comes great responsibility.

Now here's a bargain. 270 albums for $625K.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/NobleSpirit...291294768343
Plus rent, real estate acquisition costs, and insurance, of course.



If you're actually a collector, you'd probably look for ways to upgrade the existing material. And merely having it and looking through it probably would lead you to new collecting interests. You could also prepare exhibits based on excerpts.

And you'd have all your friends over to admire it, sitting on the shelves in your garage where your Ferrari could have been (or was).

What would you do with it ? That's a easy question to answer ----I would add another 600,000 stamps to it by specializing into watermarks ,color varieties and different perforations plus adding those items not listed in the major catalogs .

This is quite interesting:
Unfortunately, it is being offered by NobleSpirit who is remarkably clueless on how to photograph or describe collections. Here's an example (admittedly I chose an image that is especially useless):



Sheesh. So I wonder if this is any of the collections we already know about being offered by a different vendor, or a new one? If the latter, more proof that worldwide collecting is alive and well.

Well, yes, the photos could be much better. But wowzers, even what little one can see from these photos, it's impressive--all that mint (and lightly cancelled, vibrantly colored used). Granted, gaps among the earlies in many places (e.g., Great Britain, where the photos are even less revealing than usual for this set of photos, which probably means it has next to nothing between the Penny Black and the late Victorias. But mint GB Victorias are soooooooo expensive that this collector, to whom mint meant everything, was wise to avoid them.

The seller will permit personal examination of the collection by serious buyers who aren't satisfied by the with the photos. So cut the seller feller some slack, willya !

That would make a good starter collection.

The 1st time I looked at this I saw all the silly pictures of the albums, and I missed the link to all the actual pictures. The question would be is it worth $2407 per album? If the coverage is similar throughout to the pictures I'd say it would be a good buy, but for that money I think I'd have to see it.

Just think, that's a good $1500-$2000 just in hinges, probably over $10K if we're talking Dennison hinges.

holy macaroni! Now that's a Collection (with big C)...

Both collections are nice ,but the price of $625,000 for the Noble Spirit collection is high .Unless they have gems with certificates that collection will end up being sold as country collections in each book . The auction firm lot which comes on the market later today should get some active bidding,I think it opening around $12,000 should go for $15,000 to 18,000 if it doesn't have undisclosed gems but should get some floor bidding if the better stuff is there . Again both are nice collections to own .

I think the Schuyler Rumsey 42 volume set sold for $26K. I say "think" because the prices realized appears to have the wrong lot number for the set. But as there are no entries for the other individual volumes, I think this is a safe bet. So that works out to about $620 per volume. More interestingly, if the collection only contains 20K stamps, that's a $1.30 a stamp.

The collection began to sell at 12:45 EST. I signed in to bid and found out I had forgotten to register for Schuyler Rumsey who was new to SAN. I wanted the Austria-Belgium 2 volume lot and set my mental limit at $500, it sold for $280, I wanted Ferench Colonies an would go to $350 I think it sold for $180, I was dying! The China and GB went for about $2000 each and most lots went to floor bidders so I'm sure the 20,000 was wrong, it was probably closer to 200,000. The take it all opened at $21,000 and after a brief hesitation went to $26000. I felt bad for the successful single item bidders, but personally I was relieved.