Wealthy Still Investing In Stamps Amid Overall Slide in Value

Billionaire Stamp Collectors Chase Trophies, But Can Average Collectors Get the Same Returns?

There’s been a dramatic divergence of fates in the world of stamp collecting when it comes to investment values. Billionaires still trophy hunt, but most stamps have seen their values collapse due to dwindling demand.

How Are Stamps Valued?

Stamps are valued based on several criteria:

• The image on the face
• Edges or perforations
• Country of origin
• Original denomination
• History/backstory
• Errors

While you may assume that errors decrease stamp value, it’s actually the opposite. Stamps with print errors are taken out of circulation, making them more rare and valuable.

Is Investing in Stamps now Just for the Wealthy?

At the rarified end of stamp collecting, shoe designer Stuart Weitzman paid $9.8 million for an 1856 British Guiana One-Cent Magenta in 2014, which was nearly four times the previous record for a single stamp. Despite the stamp later being sold at a Sotheby’s auction in 2021 for $8.3 million, it still remains one of the world’s most valuable stamps. Meanwhile, at the hobbyist end of the spectrum, if your grandpa’s prized stamp collection was ever worth anything, it probably isn’t anymore.

The price of collectibles is a supply and demand game, and a significant number of stamp collectors are selling up (one way or another). Peak stamp collecting was around 1988 when the American Philatelist Society had a record-high 56,000 members. Today there are less than half as many, with only 25,546 recorded in 2023.

Most Stamp Investments now a Losing Proposition

For the wealthy, the rarest of rare stamps still serve as reliable and sometimes lucrative places to park money. Meanwhile, many stamps have depreciated so quickly that they are worth a tenth of the price listed in contemporary guidebooks.

“Changing generational interests have left stamp collecting behind. Kids these days have probably never seen a postage stamp, let alone started a rare stamp collection” according to investor Hunter Robiarrd. “Unless you’re wealthy enough to invest in extremely rare stamps, it’s likely that the time for stamp investing is over.”

Robiarrd does hold out hope, however. He cites an aging population and a “stamp collecting boom in China, where an estimated 18 million enthusiasts collect or invest in postal stamps. And this figure is likely to increase as the aging population grows.” Only time will tell which way the wind blows.

Kids Like Smartphones, not Stamps

Part of the precipitous decline is changing generational interests. Kids are just more interested in TikTok and gaming rather than stamps.

It’s not that today’s kids aren’t excited to receive mail. It’s just that their white-pouched Amazon deliveries of electronics hold little in the way of artful, hand-stamped charm. It’s likely many children have never noticed a physical stamp unless someone in their family — almost certainly an evangelist grandpa — has tried to infect them with the philately bug.

Kids exposed to stamp collecting at a young age are more likely to invest in stamps as a hobby in retirement, investment blog Antique Sage writes in “The Long Slow Death of Stamp Collecting.”

Adding Transparency to Stamp Market

Technology has also played a role in deflating prices. Online trading forums such as eBay made stamp purchases and trading more transparent. The same forums have also decreased the value of stamps since many were found to be less rare than originally thought, Antique Sage noted. The site also cautioned collectors to be on the lookout for fraudulent stamps online, which further contribute to the devaluation of legitimate stamps.

Price Slide Is an Opportunity for Stamp Collectors

Robert Lehmann, a Forbes columnist covering philately says the depressed prices should be seen as a buying opportunity for the investor looking for longer-term returns.

“If you are a USA collector, these are buying opportunity years for building a quality collection at price levels not seen in years,” Lehmann wrote. “Stamp buying has rarely been a timing play as investments go, but this is one of those times.”

When discussing a survey he took from 1993-2018, Lehmann found that “The recommended items, 4,164 now valued at $13,807,210, returned 255.5% or 10.2% per year. Some 7,388 items were not recommended. They returned an average of 8.8% per year. This demonstrates just how strong the stamp market has been over the last 25 years.”

For hobbyists who want to create value, Lehmann explains that less than 2% of stamps qualify as investable, and knowing the difference between collectible and investable is the first step. But will hobbyists — especially those with smartphones in hand — really have the same knowledge, dedication, and luck? Or is it still a rich man’s game?

Billionaires Chase Rare Trophy Stamps

The wealthy sometimes like to see their money expressed in hobby form, and billionaires continue to trophy hunt stamps all but guaranteed to appreciate in value by virtue of their rarity. It’s no surprise the uber-wealthy have some of the most impressive collections, including Bill Gross’, who recently made news with the announcement that he is selling his stamp collection.

Gross’ collection is said to be worth between $15 and $20 million. One of the stamps, known as the ‘’Z-grill,’ is alone supposed to be worth $4 to $5 million.

Stamps Are Stories

Before Stuart Weitzman paid $9.4 million for the one-and-only One-Cent Magenta, it had not been seen by the public for decades. Weitzman loaned it for three years to the National Postal Museum of the Smithsonian. Visitors flocked to it not just for its rarity, but for its back story.

That’s because stamps are, at heart, stories, and investing in stamps requires a love for stories and history. The One-Cent Magenta has a colorful and romantic story. Philatelists repeat this story to themselves when they see it, whereas the rest of us just see a scribbled-on purple square.

This particular piece of postage is a makeshift stamp. In this case, postage on newspapers and letters in British Guiana was made necessary because delivery of the colony’s official British postage came up 90% short. Typeset at the local newspaper, the stamp includes a stock line drawing of a three-masted ship, along with the colony’s Latin motto, “Damus Petimus Que Vicissim,” which translates to “We give and we ask in return.”

Leaving a Mark on History

The scribbles are the initials of the colony’s postmaster, who was just as diligent about destroying all unused copies once his supply of legitimate British stamps finally arrived — another reason there is only one known copy. It was discovered in 1873 by a Scottish schoolboy stamp collector, who promptly made the unwise financial decision to sell it for $10.

The people after him who’ve owned it add their part to the story, and they also leave their initials, a kind of micro-graffiti on the stamp. Promiscuous collectors leave these tags everywhere. It’s the only kind of collecting I know about where defacing the artifact is par for the course.

Invest in Stamps for Love, not Money

But unless you are wealthy enough to invest in ultra-rare stamps, it’s probable that the time for stamp collections as a personal investment has passed. Those who continue to invest in stamps in the middle to lower tier of value should do it solely for the love of these historical objects and their stories, not with the hope of future financial return.

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[Editors’ Note: To learn more about this and related topics, you may want to attend the following on-demand webinars (which you can view at your leisure, and each includes a comprehensive customer PowerPoint about the topic):

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This is an updated version of an article originally published on March 10, 2021.]

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