What Is Your Most Expensive Philatelic Purchase?

Never regretted what I paid, only that sometimes I took my hand/paddle down, now stopped mouse clicking to soon.

In my haste on an online auction, I clicked in a figure that was meant to be the "maximum bid", but instead, I clicked the "actual bid" figure. As a result, I won the lot. However, I don't regret the purchase as it was still a one of a kind item.

I assume you are saying it turned into a jump bid?

More than once, I placed a mail bid or online bid that was a stretch, but I really wanted the item or collection, and I expected to pay much less than my bid, at one increment over the previous bid. Unfortunately I won the lot(s) at exactly my top bid, and in some cases I was highly skeptical that someone else had their top bid that was exactly one increment below my single bid.

Kelleher lists in their terms that any bid below their estimate is treated as an actual bid, and the 'one increment over previous bid' rule only applies above that. At other auction houses, I don't always know how my top bid will be treated, whether as an actual bid or a maximum bid.

It is / was (not sure if it is still a thing) a problem where a seller would have a fake account put tiny bids on their own item with the minimum increment each time, when the real buyer's bid increases, that means that the real bid is higher, but if the bid does not increase, it means they have bid exactly the same thing as the real buyer, they do this / did this to get the maximum bid from buyers, because sellers cannot see their bidders' highest bids.

My most expensive single stamp is the 1840 2d which I use as my avatar here. My second most expensive is my 1840 1d. But I've sometimes spent more on a week's food and drink in a supermarket than I spent on either of them. In general, I'm happy to collect cheap stamps, and to read about other people's expensive stamps without envy.

I was at a live auction yesterday. The auction house runs their auctions on three online bidding platforms, with video, and takes bids on the book, both on paper and online. So there's a lot going on. Gets to the lot I'm interested in, and the online bidders are chuntering away and the auctioneer is looking intently at his screen, and I'm thinking he's not going to see me bidding, So I whistled. That got his attention, and I got the lot with my preliminary bid (actually my top bid). I still feel embarassed.

Box of random C19 definitives, with an old album of South American. 95 GBP with fees.

[q][Kelleher lists in their terms that any bid below their estimate is treated as an actual bid, and the 'one increment over previous bid' rule only applies above that/q]

That is a serious problem for any lots they overestimate.

A set of really nice mint Zeppelins. It will be REALLY expensive if my wife ever finds out and files for divorce.

I have a very supportive wife who actually bought all three of my Zeppelins for me as (birthday, Valentine's Day, Christmas) gifts.

Wow! Does your wife have any sisters? Are they single?

And if they are single, is it because they only take and never give?

Off the top of my head, the most expensive items in my collection are the US Airmail "Zepps," both mint singles and first day covers. Roughly equivalent in value are serveral Dorothy Knapp hand-painted WW II patriotic covers. No regrets, but I don't see these items maintaining a value equal to what I paid as time passes.

The motivation for paying what I did for the Zepps was to complete a collection of US Airmails (C1-C150), consisting not just of mint singles, but also of first-day covers, plate blocks (excluding C1-C6), and, where appropriate, coil line pairs, booklets, and panes.

The Knapp covers are all with Victory, VT, cancellations. I have paid top dollar for Victory, VT, covers to amass what is likely the most extensive collection of WW II Victory, VT, covers in existence. In the past couple of weeks, I was the top bidder on ebay for Linto covers with Victory, VT, postmarks for August 6 and 9, 1945. This willingness to pay top dollar has extended to many covers that I know have bogus (backdated) cancellations, as the practice of backdating Victory, VT, covers is part of the history of Victory, VT, WW II patriotic covers. I will never recover all that I have paid out in $$$ for this collection, but I have been rewarded in other ways that make up for any monetary losses over time.

My most expensive purchase was a full set of Scott International Brown album reproduction pages and binders. I did this as a retirement gift to myself. Now to transfer and mount about 35,000 plus stamps from other albums and glassines. I'm glad I bought Dennison hinges when the price was not so expensive as they are now.

My most expensive have been some early Australian Kangaroo Specimen Stamps with errors on the Specimen Overprint. On some issues, there were only 1800 stamps issued, so the error in the overprint might be equivalent to only 15 printed copies.