1/3 Of The World's Stamp Collectors Are In China?

The last time I used hinges was yesterday . To make these three pages .

Stamp supplies and reference books are a good way to tell where the serious and more advance collectors are . You look at some of the news stories about stamp exhibits around the world and you see this ------STAMP EXHIBIT open today and 500,000 people stood in line at the opening ------what you don't read is 499,999 came in to buy the new issue for the exhibit and purchase huge quantities of the exhibit stamps from the post office and one guy went to see the exhibits .In China they stand in line to buy stamps for speculation of value .

I don't think you understand that hinging stamps is mostly done by North American collectors. Collectors in other parts of the world store their stamps in stock books, etc. Or are you saying that to be a serious collector you have to hinge your stamps to albums?

"hingeing stamps is mostly done by North American collectors "-----because they have the only reliable hinges,not the hinges like those comeing out of the UK or Germany who's hinges[HINGES OF STEEL } I use to hang pictures on the wall .
I would not classife myself as a serious collector ,I am a worldwide collector that uses hinges and lots of them .But back to the subject of China collectors ,I just don't believe the numbers .

Jenny

Not meaning to keep the topic away from Peking, but could you add the UK to the list of countries whose collectors still use hinges, please? And modern ones as well, in my case!

Geoff

Not to go from bad to worse, but what North American company still makes good hinges? Or are you saying we still have plenty of dennisons and fold-o-hinges floating around?

I have an horde of the original Dennisons; 28 packs of them. Bought them a few years back and use them in my Big Blue 'fun' albums. ('Fun' as I enjoy filling spaces unlike my US collection which is more investment grade.)
Don

Raymodj----No one is making good hinges in America ,the quality is just as bad as those from overseas . The trend worldwide is stockbooks which I dislike because of both cost and not that easy to move stuff around . Stockbooks don't help with explanations and inventory .I prefer the 102 black dealer cards ,placed in order in the long red boxes .

De gustibus non est disputandum. Personally I prefer Lighthouse Vario pages - flexible, easy to add commentary text slips next to stamps if wanted, dont require hinges (or mounts) for the stamps, and at least in the USA, tend to run less expensive than bound stockbooks (though apparently the opposite is true in Europe I have been told).

As for the original post, I think the dealer was indulging in a touch of exaggeration, but that isn't to say that there is a growing number of Chinese entering the market not just for Chinese issues, but issues for other nations such as the USA etc. Some are true collectors, some are more likely trying to shift their money into non-Chinese assets (as stamps have often played in times of uncertainty). IS it short term or long term, who knows.

As far as the US and China Joint issues in 1994,as far as appreciation, they have not fair well at all in more than 20 years- neither the US nor China crane sheet. Japan/US was a more unique issue.

Jenny2U,

I think it has gotten through that Chinese stamp collectors use Stock Books not stamp hinges,

Pagoda

Certainly supplies from China are much cheaper than any supplies from North America or Europe so they'd be using the better, I think. And certainly to protect those nice Mint stamps, I don't think they'd use hinges.

I bought a nice magnifier from a seller in China for $5 shipping included. Normally, I would pay between $10 and $30 for one.

There are stamp dealers in China. Chinese people generally like to speak their own language when dealing in Business because they feel more comfortable in understanding what they are buying. And that's important in stamp collecting because the smallest things could mean a big difference in price.

And buying stamps in China is not cheap.

I'm Canadian living in China and stamp and coin collecting is popular. There is a two-story coin and stamp mall in Shanghai that is stuffed with all kinds of interesting things. The problems is that, like everything in China, you never know if it is real or fake. At the stamp mall, I have seen sheets of the Monkey stamp that are probably fake, as well as lots of the 60's Mao issues that are so valuable. You just don't know.
I think there are lots of monkey stamps out there since everyone I ask seems to have one but nobody wants to sell in case they go up, which probably accounts for their value.
It really is an interesting place. Many of the stalls just leave valuable stuff lying out on the counters. Lots and lots of gold coins just sitting there. I imagine it would be tempting for thieves but since thieves are not exactly held in high esteem here, I don't think they would get very far. Everyone in these kinds of malls know everyone else and if one guy grabbed something and made a run for it, they would not get far. The Chinese are very non-violent and non-aggressive but if they get worked up, they don't hold back. None of the "hold me back, hold me back!" kind of fights you see in the West. I once saw two guys in suits and ties in opposing booths at a toy faire jump over their respective tables and just start swinging. Always entertaining.