Finished Reading Stamp Investing By Datz

Remember to; those that break down large lots and then sell them to you, are making they're money off you, not their purchase,.
Are you playing, or being played? A famous presentation by Dr Cornell West.
regards mark

Investing your money in the stock market will nearly always beat out any "collectible" over time. Invest in stamps and you will nearly always lose money unless you buy only a small number of high value stamps, and that is not "collecting" stamps. Invest in stocks and bonds, and you will make money. I keep the two things separate.

I never invest in stamps. In fact, among my collections are a lot of countries bulging with stamps I enjoy looking at which will sell someday for 5-10% of what I paid for them -- Malawi, Namibia, Nepal, Tunisia, Czechoslovakia, and others. I do not care. I just like their stamps. It makes me feel good to look at them. And I have other collections that will sell for "maybe" 30-40% of what I paid for them -- the U.S., Switzerland, France, Great Britain, some others. That's fine, too. Most of that value will be in a small number of stamps, not the other 95% I collected that I enjoyed collecting. The enjoyment is the whole point. Collect what you enjoy collecting. if you get any money back, it's a bonus.

Bill Gross didn't make money on his collections which says a lot. If you look at any of the great collections that Siegel has sold through the decades no matter how you calculate it none of them beat inflation. It is not an investment hobby. Stamps aren't even like precious metal coins that at least have intrinsic value. Collectibles in general are subject to whims. That goes for vehicles, furniture, fine art, Beanie Babies and stamps.

I have some penny blacks an 1840 2d blue and some far more valuable stamps. All but one of these would have lost value as an investment. I could buy them more cheaply or at the same price today compared with10 to20 years ago when I bought them. fortunately I collect stamps I don't invest.

Whenever this topic pops up I always think of this article by Don on Stamp Smarter exploring the value of the C13-15 zeppelins over time:

https://stampsmarter.org/learning/Z...gTrends.html