In the nineteenth century Malaysia was like India, an amalgam of independent states nominally aligned under a central government. One of the most interesting of these states was Sarawak. This was a country carved out of Borneo for Sir James Brooke, a British adventurer who helped the Sultan of Brunei against an insurrection. This was […]
Sarawak and the White Rajah Read More »
To paraphrase Churchill (who said this in relation to democracy), capitalism is the worse economic system, except all others. But despite its flaws, capitalism motivates workers better than any other system and allows for a far greater amount of economic freedom for a greater number of people than any system. It channels aggressive drives into socially productive endeavors (entrepreneurship) rather than into the
Topical or Thematic collecting came of age about 1950 (The American Topical Association, a group of philatelists who collect thematically was founded in 1949). Traditional collectors save stamps and covers by country, though often specializing by era or issue or stamp type (such as plate blocks or tabs). Topicalists collect by theme such as Disney
Topical Collecting Read More »
As we start the fall the stamp market is pretty good. The economic difficulties of the last five years now have faded from affecting philately too seriously (although it would be nice to be able to say the same about general economic conditions). Prices of more ordinary material is weaker but overall nice properties still
We have a large US Postage lot. It is unpicked from 3c sheets to 44c, collections of plate blocks, sheets and plates with most of whatever premium there is in this period. The postage values of VF og NH postage is over $35000 and the price is below 60%- $21750-check only no credit cards (actually
Special postage offer Read More »
Collectors wishing to sell their stamps traditionally have asked stamp dealers that they are considering selling to “Do you have good customers for x?” And the traditional answer always was “of course we have good customers for x, we have the best customers for x, we are the leading players in the x market”. And
There is nothing more exciting for a collector than to complete a collection of stamps and Kionga makes it about as easy as it gets. There were only four stamps issued in the entire history of the country and they sell for about $50. Kionga is a tiny scrap of real estate on the east coast of Africa
Twenty years ago stamp auction companies were defined by their auction catalogs. We competed with each other to produce the biggest and the best, assuming that this was what our customers wanted. The reality is that this was what we wanted and we did this largely for ourselves and to facilitate our sense of grandure vis
Every year I try to go to a few European auctions, maybe buy a few things, but really more to get a sense of what major European sellers are saying and doing. The sellers I met with in Europe are pessimistic. And they have reason to be. The Euro crisis is weighing on European perceptions in a way that
Stamp Market in Europe Read More »