Probably no stamp has shot up in value more than the 1980 PRC issue for the Year of the Monkey. Originally this new issue sold mint in the US for under a dollar and the last one we sold brought over $1500. Two factors have brought about this huge rise. The well known reason is the phenomenal increase in the popularity of philately in China and the greatly increasing wealth of that country which has allowed more people to be able to afford to pay more for stamps. That has affected the price of all PRC stamps but why has the price of the Monkey stamp had a rise that is fantastic even when compared with other PRC stamps of the period?
A very plausible reason for this was explained to me by a prominent Chinese dealer recently. He told me that China is a closed society politically and that many activities which in this country would be economic transactions in China have a political component. Thus, buying a house, opening a business and many more things require permits or forms or other bureaucratic intervention to a degree that Americans do not have. Ruling party functionaries have great power but not great income. Bribery in China is punishable by death but gifts are allowed. This dealer suggested to me that as cash would be a bribe, the gift of a stamp to a stamp collector is deemed a gift and is not looked on with nearly the severity if discovered as a cash bribe would be. He said a market has developed so that a certain kind of permit costs “a Monkey” and other more significant help might cost a block of four. I have no way of knowing if this is true but the man who explained to me is intimately connected to the PRC stamp business and ways of doing things. And this wouldn’t be the first time that bribery or political factors have fueled philately. By the way, the next time you read an attack on the oversized salaries of public servants and their great retirement packages reflect how rare bribery is in this country and that paying public servants a decent wage continues to be the best way of insuring this.