Rare Inexpensive Stamps

One of the things that has always amazed me is the disparity in price between the stamps of popular countries and the stamps of more esoteric areas. Like you, I took Econ 101 and was drilled on the basics of supply and demand. But,really, consider this. On EBay today as I write this there are 71 mint US #237 (the 10c Columbian) for sale. This is my basic metric of a common mid priced stamp. Hundreds of thousands exist and at any one time in all the stamp stocks in all the world there are literally hundreds if not thousands for sale. Depending on quality a #237 will sell for about $50. In our August auction we are selling a specialized collection of early Libya. Classic Libya was a legitimate philatelic country, no back door issues, the stamps of which were issued by a major European power-Italy. This collection has numerous Scott and Sassone listed varieties of early issues that exist in quantities of less than 50 and which I have never seen offered for sale before and yet many of these will sell for less than the same $50 that a common #237 would sell for. Imagine- a major issue of a major country that comes up for sale every few years or so for a little more than a dinner for two at the Olive Garden!