I look for several factors when I recommend a collecting specialty to a collector. First is the intrinsic beauty of the stamps themselves. Does the country have high production values and are the stamps artistically compelling? Do the design types change over time to reflect new technologies in printing and new tastes in the graphic arts? Are the stamps faithful to the history and culture of the nation producing them and not derivative or imitative of stamps issued by other nations or influenced by the prospect of selling stamps to other cultures? The stamps of this specialty must be scarce enough to present a challenge to obtain but not so difficult as to make the search more important than the stamps themselves. And lastly, the country must be completable (or nearly so) to a collector of the upper middle class which means that while most of the stamps should sell for under $2 each, there should be many at around $25-$100 and few over $100. This adds spice to the collecting and collectors often find the most pride of ownership in a set that cost them a bit of dough. These criteria leave three main countries that I recommend -Canada, the Netherlands and Ireland. And for most people Ireland is the best. The stamps are beautifully designed and show the pride the Irish have in their history and culture. For a major country, there are few rarities and the entire country can be collected (by Scott major numbers) for a few thousand dollars. And the stamps are among the best designed and executed in the world.
