Gross Multiples Demonstrate Strength And Diversity Of The Rare Stamp Market

You also cannot bulk all of the wealthy into one basket. Some wealth is directly impacted by the economy more than other wealth and so on. There is no black and white.

The biggest differentiator is wealth versus income or, as they say, Old Money as opposed to New Money.

If you own half of Manhattan, you remain wealthy, even if your income will vary with the health of the economy.

I think that the collectibles market(s) are driven more by New Money (and the aspirational people who enjoy it) than by Old Money (and the already-up-to-their-eyeballs people who own it) ... but that's me.

Cheers,

/s/ ikeyPikey (who sees that 'differentiator' & 'aspirational' need to be added to the SCF spell-check)

I would suppose that if one knew exactly who was bidding (buying) those premium lots at the very nice realizations, one could extrapolate how the overall stamp market is doing. For instance, if a broader base of bid winners (collectors, primarily but that would include dealers, investors, etc.) were less-than-super affluent, that would bode better for the future likelihood of that particular material remaining strong.

But if a narrower group or even one or two super-affluent individuals garner more than the average high-end auction bidders bring, that would tend to lessen the broader financial appeal as fewer ultimate owners would be winning those lots.

Hope that's not too unclear!

Jay

I think the Gross sale was nothing but positive. I am a professional coin dealer by trade, and was lured back into stamps by what I perceived to be attractive levels. When I first started re-building my childhood collection approximately 8 years ago, I encountered very little competition in auction. I bought most of what I wanted and needed at my prices. Since then, I have noticed that stamp prices and the overall interest in the hobby both seem to be on the uptick. Furthermore, auctions seem to be dominated by collectors and their representatives. Conversely, the coin market, during this same period, has been rather flat. Numismatic auctions are venues for the reseller more so than the end user. Certified coins have become commoditized, and are treated more as an investment medium than a collectible. Quite honestly, coins are just not as fun as they used to be. The stamp hobby today reminds me of the coin hobby 35 years ago, and from my perspective, is refreshing. But, I regress....I was streaming the Siegel auction Thursday at my booth at the PAN coin show, and I had several dealers and collectors alike stop, listen and comment on how surprisingly strong and enthusiastic the mood of the auction seemed to be. In short, I think what we witnessed through Gross was nothing but good for our hobby. Great stamps sold for great money to a myriad of collectors. I can attest that at least 3 of the Gross bidders were personal friends of mine, all relatively new to stamp collecting, and each sharing in my enthusiasm of the health and future potential of the hobby. None of us, by the way, are the 1% billionaires referenced here or elsewhere in SCF posts. I am quite sure that if the Gross sale were "a flop", there would be more than a few nay-sayers prognosticating the demise of philately. So let's rejoice in the great results and publicity that this Gross auction has afforded our hobby. I believe that it bodes well for our future.

The balance collection of plate blocks had a lot of "wide tops", which are much less common on many issues then bottoms, sides, or cut down top margin blocks. I happen to know that the purchaser was very happy getting that lot at that price.

Lthink about it another way, ignoring investment value. I for one, if. Had $100 million, Woolf some whatever I damn well pleased on what I like/want. People on this forum seem to be unaware of what the top 1% will spend their money on. Some can have $100k's on designer specialty shoes, or $2.2 million for a Koi fish. If I had $100's millions, you could be damn sure I would buy whatever stamp I wanted, and I wouldn't care about investment, I would buy because I like it. Most of us here have a somewhat jaded point of view. Spending $200 on a stamp your REALLY like is the same as people who hav money who spend $100k on something.

"The balance collection of plate blocks had a lot of "wide tops", which are much less common on many issues then bottoms, sides, or cut down top margin blocks."

This is very true. One example, albeit a bit extreme, is the C22 plate. $85 bucks cv for a narrow top or either bottom. The wide top is worth 10 times that.

If you want to see premium realizations in the flat press plate block era you just need to look at well centered full top prices. A quick perusal of the Siegel power search shows this quite clearly.

Bob

high quality material will always find a buyer irregardless of rarity. whether or not they will be good investments in the long term depends on the health of the hobby. I do not know how meany of the 21-22 people on the floor for gross sale were active bidders but the result seems to indicate a healthy market.

bobplates - C22 full top PB goes for a lot more than 10X even the full bottom PB. Example: I paid less than 30.00 for my full bottom NH PB. According to their records Siegle has auctioned off 5 full tops. They realized from 1500 to 3500.

"bobplates - C22 full top PB goes for a lot more than 10X even the full bottom PB. Example: I paid less than 30.00 for my full bottom NH PB. According to their records Siegle has auctioned off 5 full tops. They realized from 1500 to 3500."

Ok... sue me for cuffing the number rather than calculating the exact mean, mode and median of the Siegel realizations. Recently a C22 full top(as part of a very nice c20-22 set) sold for around 10x SCV on ebay. Perhaps that was way too cheap.

The point remains intact... Full Top Well Centered Plates are worth a premium and in fact are probably UNDERPRICED in the current market when one looks at the PSE centered single realization craze. The multiple of the "best" plate available vs the "best" single is a modest fraction of the "average" plate vs "average" single. I think the evidence bears this out.

Bob

Rats! I looked on ebay and could not find that full top PB C20 to
C22 set under completed items. I really wanted to see it. If I had known it was up for bid and it was as nice as you say, I would have probably jumped on it! Sounds like something to good to pass up.


I have a weakness for plate blocks, especially from the first few commemorative US issues. Maybe in another life time I'll have the funds to complete them.

'
First, a hat-tip to the OP:


Notice how quickly the conversation became about:


Q/ What do the recent Sotheby's Impressionists results say about the strength of the painting'n'drawing hobby?

Cézanne Painting Owned by S.I. Newhouse Jr. Draws $59.3 Million at Christie's

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/13/...ewhouse.html

Cheers,

/s/ ikeyPikey (who was recently gifted one of her inestimably valuable original oil paintings by a neighbor moving to a care facility)