Lest Anyone Think That Stamp Collecting Is Dying...

This morning's Siegel session is an affirmation that quality material is bringing stronger prices than ever.

The Pan-Pacific jumbos are bringing moon money prices. That said, they are absolutely gorgeous examples.

stupid question- what is a siegel session?

Siegel Auctions Sale #1197:

https://stampauctionnetwork.com/y/y1197.cfm

I have a hard time getting excited about high prices for graded stamps.

That said - I was thinking of making a similar post to yours here, about the postal history sale earlier this week, at Siegel.

I monitored most of the sale on Tuesday and Wednesday, and for most of the areas sold then, there seemed to be quite a few bidders, and it was often pretty hard to win a bid (for me, at least). I sensed some real vigor in the market.

Going into the sale, I had 4 lots pegged, that I had a high interest in winning, and 65 or so others, that I had researched, and would consider bidding on, if I had any money left when they went by. Realistically, I was only going to try and buy 3-4 lots, but there was a huge basket to choose from in this sale, for me.

Anyway, of the 4, I won 2 and was the under-bidder on the other two. All 4 of those lots sold for above, to well above, the high estimate.

I picked up two consolation lots also, one of which turned out to be my favorite purchase. I'll probably make a post about it at a later date.

Things are good right now, in my opinion, at least in the area of much of the material they've sold this week.

As has been said before, but bears repeating: the declarations, lamentation, wailing, and gnashing of teeth over stamp collecting's demise are highly exaggerated. Stamp collecting is alive and well... it's just become more decentralized. *Organized* philately is on the wane, but the hobby is thriving on the Interwebz.

For certain material and in certain niches, the competition is more fierce than ever. Common and subpar material, on the other hand, is in the tank, likely never to return to prominence.

Certainly is a boon for PSE, as it appears (now) to be the dominant force in high end auctions. Just a guess, but it appears PSE graded certs are attached to 75% of the stamps at Siegel. Everybody will be sending in their $35 397's in search of a $400, or $2100(!) bonanza. It's a bonanza, alright. For PSE.

US 567, cat $35 sold for $1,500. With this notation - "with 2012 PF Cert graded 98 (obviously undergraded) and 2016 PSE Graded 100."

Stamp collecting's demise is orthogonal with stamp valuations. One can hardly correlate the strength of a high end auction like Siegel, with the health of a hobby. What 100 Rich philatelists do, is not the hobby. That is not a valid metric, any more than Linn's / Stamps.org subscriber count. This is just picking and choosing.




This is the truthiness, and what collectors who care about their collections value should be concerned with.




And this means rising prices assuming, the demand holds, and no supply side changes.



There is nothing to support or dispute this argument. Siegel auction has great turnout. The local club has 5 grumpy old men. This board is thriving with newcomers. Some people are succeeding selling on ebay. Others are floundering. As per a recent comment by 51studebaker, noone has real metrics.

So here is the problem I see with this - As each stamp gets graded at the highest level, it dilutes the valuations of its brethren. It goes from a rare gem, to a common gem. So if we all have ideal 397s sent in, that get graded for 100% gem quality, the premium associated with this condition declines in value. These amazing sales figured are predicated on the "only 1 stamp ever graded higher" ideology. If 397 gems become widespread, it becomes a $20 gem, not a $2000 gem. My guess is, most folk don't think to send in a $35 stamp for grading.

Let the buyer enjoy it. I am sure the buyer (assuming not a less than genuine motive) will not miss the money.

I looked up orthogonal. Slang as well. Everyone, it's ok.

It is not just Siegel either doing well. Kelleher's last collections auction was strong. Same for Rasdale and Sparks in Canada. The entire range is exhibiting enthusiastic bidding. Of course the economy is smoking hot right now.

Orthogonally speaking that is.

We can intuit that many of these people buying collections and breaking them up on ebay are actually selling things, or they wouldn't be buying all of the time.

There are buyers out there, for all levels of stuff.

I agree that we don't have exact metrics, so the best we can do is infer based upon our own collective experiences.

edit: post edited per Don's comment.

Eschew obfuscation.

Don

I'm a firm believer in expertizing but not of graded stamps. For issues where forgeries/fakes abound and issues with only slight variations, expertizing is definitely the way to go but I just can't see the exorbitant prices that graded stamps are realizing. I can see paying extra for an experized copy of certain stamps but not for the grading of common stamps.The Siegel auction had a used, graded Scott #618 2c Lexington and Concord (Lot #2059) with a 2016 PSE certificate giving it a grade of 100 Jumbo. This stamp, which sells every day in unused condition for less than $3, realized $475 at the Siegel auction. Does the mere fact of having a graded certificate merit this price? In my opinion, no.

Unless they they are printing more 397's, "gems" are not going to become so widespread that they are only $20 unless demand falls off a cliff. Grading haters seem to think perfect copies are just littering collections all lover the place. Din't get me wrong, I'm sure they are a few floating around ungraded and probably enough to negatively affect the value, but to suggest they could fall to $20 is absurd.




It isn't the cert that gives them their value, it is the quality of the stamp that gives it the high value. The cert just gives the buyer comfort in what level of quality the stamp has.