The Coming Boom In Philately

We are only a  price increase away from seeing philately re-emerge as the kind of hobby it was when the baby boomers were young. This is my takeaway from several year end parties that I attended. In the course of conversation people asked what I do and when people hear that I am a stamp dealer the usual response is to tell me about the First Day Covers and plate blocks that these middle aged men collected as kids. A significant number get wistful, remembering the fun they had acquiring items for their collection. Most would like to collect again only they feel its a kid’s hobby. They are enticed by the study and the serious aspect of the hobby, but they are hard nosed business people and professionals. Golf is justified because it is social and a bit of exercise. But to have an avocation like stamps wouldn’t play well to their social group unless there was some additional reason to collect beyond the joy that it gives. So if stamps could reacquire their investment patina our hobby would take off among this group of ex collectors. I always felt that the appeal of philately was visceral and that people collected for reasons that are in addition to the reasons that they think they are collecting for. I have seen savvy investors who claimed that their hobby was all dollars and cents light up when they get the stamp that completes the page and how about the countless hours of searching that most collectors put in to find the just right item for their collection. If we could  add “smart with your money” to the mix of pleasures that our hobby confers, then we will have a philatelic boom like no other before.