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SOURCES OF INFORMATION
Below is a list of reputable sources of
information on rare and collectible stamps and
coins. This includes companies that can also
provide portfolio management, broker-dealing
or auction services. These are the specialists
that investors will need to work through
to access the stamps and coins market.
STANLEY GIBBONS:
Founded in 1856,
Stanley Gibbons is the world’s largest and
best known rare stamp merchant and market
leader in other heritage collectibles. With
offices in the United Kingdom, the Channel
Islands, Hong Kong and Singapore, they have
a deep network of contacts and unparalleled
market intelligence. Over the last few years
they have branched out from just providing
services to genuine collectors to helping
investors who want to gain exposure to the
market by offering a range of investment
products. (investment.stanleygibbons.com)
WARWICK AND WARWICK:
Established in
1958, Warwick and Warwick is a physical
and online auction house for many heritage
collectibles as well as offering valuation and
trustee services. warwickandwarwick.com
PHILATELIC TRADERS SOCIETY:
Formed in
1929, the society is member organisation
that works to ensure fair play in the rare
stamps market for traders and collectors
alike. (philatelic-traders-society.co.uk)
ROYAL PHILATELIC SOCIETY:
Established in 1869, the Royal
Philatelic Society is the oldest philatelic
society in the world. (rpsl.org.uk)
BRITISH NUMISMATIC TRADE
ASSOCIATION:
Trade association for
dealers in coins and medals, members
sign up to a code of conduct to ensure fair
dealing with consumers. They also keep
a register of stolen goods, forgeries and
organise trade shows. (
BRITISH NUMISMATIC SOCIETY:
The leading organisation for the study of coins,
medals and paper money. britnumsoc.org
PROFESSIONAL COIN GRADING SERVICE
(PCGS):
The PCGS offer third-party
authentication and grading services for
high value collectibles such as rare stamps,
coins, autographs and memorabilia.
/)
World Wealth Report 2007. This research
is limited in reference to the performance
of rare stamps and coins and mainly relies
on data looking at the performance of art.
Fischer & Firer (1985) examined the
investment characteristics of the
international stamp market in their study
the risk/return characteristics of the postage
stamp market. They used the concept of
modern portfolio theory to look at portfolio
diversification and how international stamps
could be used as a source of additional
diversification within an investment portfolio.
Veld (2007) looks at the Portfolio
Diversification Benefits of Investing In
Stamps based on auction prices and the
SG100 Stamp Index provided by Stanley
Gibbons. This study highlights some of the
obvious issues with compiling a reliable
index of stamp prices whilst considering
the previous literature available on
collectible based investments. Returns
and the diversification benefits of stamps
are analysed for UK and US investors
by comparing stamps against the FTSE
100 & 300 and the S&P 500, Dow Jones
Industrial and the Russell 300 index. The
SG100 Stamp Index was available on the
Bloomberg Professional® service and was
an index of every day collectible stamps.
The Index was discontinued as it added
to the confusion surrounding investment
grade and purely collectible stamps.
In Ex Post: The Investment Performance
of Collectible Stamps (2011), Professor
Elroy Dimson of the London Business
School and Christophe Spaenjers, PhD
student at Tilburg University, analyse
the investment performance of rare
stamps over the past century. They
combine research from academic, media
and industry resources to critique the
investment market for rare stamps.
FÉDÉRATION INTERNATIONALE DE
PHILATÉLIE:
An international organisation
formed in 1926 to look after the interests
of stamp collectors and philatelists.
Many countries and regions also have
their own dedicated societies. (f-i-p.ch)
EBAY:
The world’s biggest online marketplace
estimated to trade $300m of stamps, $1.1bn
of coins and $6bn of collectibles every year.
However, we would advise extreme caution
using this market channel – the risks of
fraud or of people taking advantage of over-
enthusiastic amateurs are compounded by
the anonymity of the internet. (ebay.co.uk)
STAMP CATALOGUES
Catalogues are the starting point when it
comes to stamp valuations and are a useful
way of comparing the relative value of a
wide range of stamps. However, the prices
reflect the retail value of stamps in fine
condition. They are the prices that dealer’s
expect to achieve for the sale of a stamp
and include a mark-up. Stamp investors
may very well struggle to achieve these
prices when they sell to the dealer. The
mark up varies but is in the region of 20%.
Scott – published in the US, English
language, strength in US issues
Stanley Gibbons – published in the
UK, English language, strength in Great
Britain, China & British Commonwealth
Michel – published in
Germany, German language
Yvert & Tellier – published in
France, French language
ACADEMIC RESEARCH
There has been some academic research
into the desirability of investing in passion
assets and in particular rare stamps.
Campbell, Koedijk de Roon (2009) looked
at the desirability and performance of
Emotional Assets, with a focus on demand
for investing into luxury goods. This
included a study of a number of indices
in order to gauge the risk/return profile
of investing into emotional assets. The
research centred on luxury goods sectors
as reported in the Merril Lynch/Cap Gemini
