What's The Most You'e Spent On A Single Used Canadian Stamp?

Since I've been drooling over some high denom Jubilee stamps and I've never paid more than $US 38.00 for any single stamp I got to wondering what thresholds others have reached. Promise the wife won't hear about it from me.

Terry

Terry - if you are thinking about any meaningful return on your investment (that is if the $38 is important to you), my suggestion is to purchase only items that would make individual auction lots if sold in a mainstream, brick and mortar auction house. That usually would be $200 to $250 minimum real cost for a VF quality item. Below that level, there will be no difference between a stamp that cost $38 and one that costs $5 ...

In short, do not think in terms of how much per item - think in terms of the fun/play value of the money that you do spend.

(The above is written without apology)

I have never bough a Canadian stamp through auction bidding.

In recent years, I am down to needing the low number scott's catalogue Canadian stamps. I have been using the APS Canadian stamp book circuit to search for the few I need.

APS store and sales circuit seem to me to offer the best prices, plus you get to look and touch them before you make a purchase decision.

Pain of purchase primarily drives what I will pay for the Canadian stamps I still need. Do I need this stamp for the price it is being offered? Since I can see it and touch it and examine it closely, that is a material help in making a decision.

$5000 CAD

My financial situation necessitates that I collect on a strict budget, however I do collect VFNH stamps so it starts to get hard to find bargains once you have all the basic stuff. The most I ever spent for a single stamp was only about $300 for a VFNH #116 10-cent plum Admiral.

This was listed wrong on ebay as a #118 so I thought I was going to get it for a steal. Unfortunately, I got caught in a last second bidding war with a couple of other observant bidders and ended up paying about $300 with the shipping. Much more than I was expecting to pay but still a fairly good deal since the stamp does catalogue at $1,200. The stamp is VFNH and post-office fresh but does have a few ink pulls which show up under magnification. Now I just need the 20-cent #119 and a few coils to finish my basic Admiral set.

Richard,

I don't think of the stamps I'm buying as an financial investment. If I ever sell the collection I expect not to to see a positive net. In my mind stamps are miniature works of the art of engraving; something to be enjoyed for what they represent and the beauty they portray.

I'll have to disagree with you regarding your statement that there is no difference between a $38 stamp and the same issue (assuming that is what you meant) selling for $5. I see vast differences in quality in that range.

I suppose it is the case that your collection has reached that point where nothing selling for less than $200 meets your needs and I congratulate you on that accomplishment. I'm not anywhere near that point.

When I find a stamp at auction that I want I set a max bid of what I feel is a reasonable retail price and then wait for the outcome, win or lose. So far I've mostly gotten good value and some real steals. I've yet to wish I'd gone over value for my max.

Terry

I would seriously get a cert for the 116. It may issues.

I paid just under 400 $ for this one...

chasa: Please excuse my ignorance but is it the particular pre-cancel that makes it worth that much? This is an aspect of collecting that I just don't know enough about.

Terry

I just purchased this #20a at a Maresch auction last week for $70. Certainly more than I ever thought I'd spend. Bested my previous record of $55 for a US #77, Abe Lincoln's first appearance on a stamp.



This is just between you and me, Terry. And only because you asked.

jamesw: That is gorgeous! And $350 CV!

Terry

Around 1981, spent about $700 for a good used copy of Canada #16.

Chatham is the 3rd rarest Canada precancel town. Amherst and Sydney are [much] scarcer and out of my price range.

chasa, do you know about this one? This is an early pre-cancel from Millbrook Post Office. There is some info on the pre-cancel on this webpage:

http://db.kelleherauctions.com/php/...663&lot=2607

And here is my example of the same pre-cancel:

The Kelleher item came from the Lussey collection. I expect it is the real deal. Forerunners like these, and the =21= cancels are not listed [yet] in the standard Canada precancel catalog so they lack sex-appeal.

They are not the same as the precancels in the catalogs. This one more appeals to collectors of Postal History or the Classics.