The Althing is the parliament of Iceland and is considered to be the oldest Parliament in the world (though whether this is “continuous” or not is subject to some dispute). But the Icelanders are rightfully proud of their Parliament’s longevity and have publicized it on two 1930 sets which commemorated the one thousandth anniversary of the Althings founding in 930. These sets have always been popular not only among Iceland philatelists and Scandinavian collectors but among all stamp collectors who like well designed and printed stamps and who like good value for their money. Iceland has always been one of those countries that has enjoyed great philatelic popularity despite limited internal demand for their stamps.
Iceland has less than 250,000 inhabitants which puts it, as a country, in the range of the city of Hialeah, Florida in terms of size. Like Monaco and Andorra, Iceland has had to rely on collectors outside its borders to maintain and increase demand for its stamps. It has done this by having well designed and printed stamps and a conservative issuing policy. But, the Great Recession has hit Iceland particularly hard as many of the banks in Iceland had been reckless lenders and sustained enormous losses. This has put pressure on the price of Iceland stamps and affected the country’s popularity. I think in the long run Iceland has glamor, and the stamps will always be popular. But due to lowering of the value of the Iceland currency, the price of Icelandic philatelic items have come down in price. Now would be a good time to buy.