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Glen Stephens
Monthly "Stamp
News" Market Tipster Column
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Do you buy the annual Post Office year books?
I imagine 5% or 10% of the readers of this column will answer
"yes".
And I bet you are never in any hurry to buy them as they are very expensive these days, and are nearly always on sale for a year or so after release. Well ..... get out of that habit. Fast. |
2006 "Leather" year books
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I have been told Australia Post in 2005 decided on a radical cut
back of the number of "2005" books produced. This was because
large numbers of books in recent years were returned as unsold
and needed to be destroyed.
This is doubly wasteful as they cost a fortune to transport and handle due to their weight, and of course they cost a fortune to produce in the first instance. All of this was a direct loss to the Philatelic Sales budget. |
Buy the 2005 version
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This idea seems to have been an initiative of the new head of
Philatelic, Mr Noel Leahy. His predecessor Amber McDougall was from my
observation ill-suited for the job and ineffective. Her presiding over
the disaster of "Pacific Explorer" saw her vanish from the position VERY
soon afterwards. Mr Leahy I am told came from Australia Post Tasmania. Almost no stamp dealer I've spoken to appears to have met him other than casually, or had meetings with him - from the President of APTA down, but hopefully he will have the savvy to rectify that very shortly. David Maiden's regular visits interstate when in that role, to brief dealers at dinner gatherings on the next few month's issues and general direction were a high point in dealer/PO relations. Quite unprecedented to that point, and not seen since. And I have no doubt sales to the trade were vastly higher under David Maiden's superb and visionary management than today. Nuf Sed. Back to year books. So guess what the new broom apparently decided to do - cut the number of "Leather" year books produced to WAY below what was needed. The 2005 Leather year album has been sold out at the Philatelic division nearly all of this year. Since about January a bold red "SOLD OUT" has been superimposed on the item on the AP website. I have been getting phone calls from collectors since January trying to secure this album for their collections. Most other large dealers report the same demand. I went to my PO and bought all that he fortunately still had - as a customer had ordered a boxful for family members as gifts, and never paid. Darn expensive purchase for me at $115 each, and it cost me $920. |
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casually opened one up to look at the artwork, and noticed on
the inside cover the book is hand numbered in gold ink:
"NUMBER 5037 OF A LIMITED EDITION OF 8000."
Huh? "Year Books have never been numbered" I think to
myself. Phone a few VERY large dealers from Max Stern down, who
had no clue about this as late as mid April. It seems Australia
Post simply went ahead and did this, and like many things
lately, did not bother to let collectors or dealers know what
they were doing.
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Numbered Rotary Sheet
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The Imperforate 50c Rotary sheetlets from latter 2005 are a
prime example of a similar "secret" issue. The AP website did
not even mention or illustrate they were individually numbered
on the margins up to 10,500. The $5 issue priced sheets soared
rapidly to $85 and have stayed there.
Collectors LOVE numbered items in small editions. Savvy dealers
know this but AP management does not seem to. Or when they do
produce them, they basically tell no-one about them! Marketing
geniuses, they truly are not.
So take my tip - if you collect all the black Leather "Deluxe"
edition year books and do not have yours from 2005 - go get one
now. Virtually no dealer in Australia will have one at any
price - that much you can bet on. My last price on my special
page for these items (glenstephens.com/yearbooks.html) was $185,
and as I get down to my last few it will get a lot higher.
Remember each book has the special Parrots sheetlet not
available via any other avenue, and these alone retail for $75,
so many books will have been broken up just to extract these.
The remaining stamp contents are then used on mail etc.
ANYTHING official in a numbered run of 8,000 is very good
stuff. Better still, my guess is that about 7,000 of those
8,000 books have gone to folks who buy one each year on standing
order, and will not sell as it will break their set.
These folks would never see a Stamp Magazine or a stamp dealer,
and would have no clue their book is valuable even if the price
rose to $500.
There is little casual buying of a $115 item. All are hand
numbered in gold ink, and will always be keenly sought.
In fact, an official edition of only 8,000 makes this one of the
smallest production runs of anything ever sold
by Australia Post when you think on it.
The brains trust at AP will of
course issue a lot more albums this year, due to the rapid
sell-out of 2005, and hence the price of the 2005 will increase
further. Secure this album now if you need it - it will never
be cheaper.
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Washington 2006
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As has been evident for way over 12 months,
Washington 2006 in late May will be a boomer of an
Exhibition.
They are doing all the right things, and were doing
them all WAY in advance. Copybook stuff.
Unlike the well meaning but absolutely out of their
depth folks running "Pacific Explorer" in
Sydney. They aimlessly spent several MILLIONS of
Post Office dollars, far too late, in areas
collectors did not see or respond to. Consequently
absolutely no-one came except the die hards.
A screaming disaster that could have been many times
better attended if basic planning had taken place as
was done so ably for "Australia 99" by
David Maiden and his motivated team.
The Americans are great organisers, and they are
proving it once again for Washington 2006. Maiden's
team had the brains to fly out Les Winick - the
architect and supremo behind the enormously
successful "Ameripex 86" in Chicago. They
wined and dined him, picked his brain, fed him all
the new ideas they had, and revved him up to be
their unpaid US ambassador at large for a couple of
years before the show.
The Brains Trust running "Pacific Explorer"
did not even tell Les the show was on, and did not
even forward him publicity material even after him
asking for it. Despite him having a weekly column
in Linn's Stamp News, that sells some
60,000 copies a WEEK! Incredible. And after the
show a very senior official publicly abused him
roundly for daring to mention this oversight!
Quite amazing.
No-one is tossing millions of funding at "Washington
2006", but they have had a superb website in place
for ages, and are giving visitors real REASONS to
come and attend. Brilliantly laid out, and a model
for all future organising committees to study.
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World's priciest stamp
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One thing they have done a year out is outline and
illustrate the major world rarities that will be on
display.
This is what excites collectors, and Washington has
a mind boggling array. Like many others locally I
have booked a ticket across to DC to absorb the
excitement, and I'll publish a report here in due
course.
On display are what are right now the world's two
priciest stamp items. The USA 1c "Z" Grill and the
USA "Inverted Jenny" 24c plate block. See my
January lead article for details of these two items
and the historic $4 million "swap" that just took
place for them.
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Swans Everywhere
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Another thing on display will be at least 4 genuine
copies of the legendary Western Australia 1854
4d "Inverted Swan" - or "Inverted Frame" ...
whichever description you prefer to use. (These
were also on display at "Pacific Explorer"
- a highlight for me personally to see them up
close. )
Well there will be 5 copies on display of this
stamp. All owned by Dr Arthur Woo. The nicest
looking one, is not an error at all! As I reported
very many years back in my column, one is a
brilliant forgery that fooled leading dealers and
Auction houses over many decades as it changed hands
as a genuine copy.
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Pick The Fake!
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Some clever forger had painted in the entire outer
border design and wording upside down, and then
painted in a superb fake cancel over the top of it
all. From the 1920s onwards it was accepted as
genuine until Robson Lowe unfrocked it in 1988. One
of the stamps illustrated is that quite brilliant
forgery. Can you guess which one?
Another illustrated example is the copy that King
Carol of Romania fled the country with in 1940. A
death squad of the Romanian fascist party Iron Guard
legionnaires (partly financed by the Nazis) fired on
the Royal Train near the Yugoslavian border, but
failed to stop it. The King and his mistress lay on
the floor and escaped injury from the bullets.
Selling the stamp helped finance his luxurious life
in exile. A Melbourne collector later purchased
it. Dealer Simon Dunkerley then sold it to Sydney
collector Mogens Juhl in 1991 for $60.000 - even
when Mogens knew he was close to death with cancer.
Upon his death it was auctioned by Macray Watson
selling in 1993 for $A57,500 plus 10%.
Another copy illustrated is the example famous
Australian collector John Gartner sold in 1979 in
Geneva for the then huge price of £67,222. And one
of the illustrations is the forgery. Can you pick
them apart? I bet most of you can not! Answers
next month.
My guess is
the "Gartner" copy would fetch more like $A250,000
if sold today.
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ebay Warning
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Perfect centring is not a difficult concept
to visualise in a stamp. If left to
experienced dealers to describe - or other
stamp professionals with decades of
experience, a commonality of grading will
generally prevail.
Sadly the emergence of ebay as a large
marketplace for expensive stamps means
clueless cowboys can get on there and call
all sorts of ugly looking second grade junk
"well centred" and "Superb" etc. And
hoodwink unsophisticated buyers.
One such seller I noticed abusing this in
recent months is someone with the ebay
handle joanne620
- who I am reliably advised is not female.
This seller is not someone who does not know
stamps. He/she has in fact over 1,000 eBay
positive "feedback" points and over 2,000
sales in the past year, and sells a lot of
stamps - if not entirely stamps. This
"joanne620" regularly invents
absurd advertised "retail" prices to try and
bump up the sale price of his often ugly
looking rubbish.
Sure - offer this stuff on eBay as badly
centred and regummed and toned by all means
if it is, and hope the often clueless buyers
buy it from you. However when stamps are
poorly centred and regummed please do NOT
describe them otherwise.
The ugly looking stamp illustrated nearby
(lot 5668205447) was sold in March
by "joanne620" and realised $515. The lot
heading called the stamp "Superb" and
"Magnificent" and "gorgeous". What total
nonsense!
Wrong - It is a quite ugly DOG of a stamp.
Perfs touching design at base and heavily
off centred to side as well. It appears to
have heavy gum toning. And may well have
been regummed too I would not be surprised
to learn, based on other stamps this person
has sold and had later inspected by
experts.
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Woof, woof!
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And apologies for the crummy
looking scan. That is all
this experienced seller
offers to buyers. Hmmmm.
The usual fanciful fiction
was outlined as to
the alleged retail -
"THE RETAIL FOR THIS STAMP
IN THIS CONDITION WOULD
EXCEED $5,000.00" when
in fact I'd sell you the
same dog for a couple
of $100 if you were silly
enough to pay that.
More dangerous - and
possibly legally actionable,
is this kind of absurd claim
- "THIS IS A SUPERB
INVESTMENT ITEM AND WILL
INDEED BE THE CENTRE PIECE
OF YOUR COLLECTION."
Investment? In a few years
time you will NOT get what
you paid for this stamp.
Well unless you offer it
again on eBay I suppose.
You get the picture. And
this is not just an isolated
example - "joanne620" has
had dozens of offerings that
I could see in the same
league. Misdescribed,
over-hyped junk. Amateurish
looking forged overprints on
Kingsford Smith "OS" stamps
(one set had overprints at
an slight angle!) that sold
for many $100s etc, etc.
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ebay not interested
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Despite a few trade members
spending many hours trying
to get this cowboy
de-registered off ebay with
contacts in high places
- nothing has occurred. One
well known dealer has
inspected some of the junk
this person had mailed out,
and advises much of the
alleged "MUH" high value
Kangaroo material was
roughly regummed.
And buyers go insane on ebay
at times. The same seller
got $885 for a
HINGED set of 1932
Harbour Bridges on March 26!
(Lot 5670190442). I'll sell
you TWO sets for that, as
would most dealers in this
magazine!
ebay is after money, and
this seller has probably
sold way into 6 figures of
material, generating ebay
many many $1,000s of revenue
in commissions - and that
seems to be all they care
about.
I am always curious as to
whether the Taxation
Department ever looks at
these "private sellers"
turning over more dollars
than many APTA members do!
I urge all readers to
carefully peruse Simon
Dunkerley's recent articles
on some of the pitfalls of
ebay - as well as the
excellent editorial in the
March magazine on ebay.
ebay is about profits,
They are not stamp dealers
and frankly could not care
less about most of the
misdescribed stuff being
offered. The words "Caveat
Emptor" come strongly to
mind.
Buy off any large dealer in
this magazine and you can
bet they are
generally members of
respected stamp trade
bodies. Get sold a
misdescribed dog - and IF
the dealer will not play
ball, the trade body WILL
assist with your refund.
And beware of some sellers
on ebay who are nothing more
than collectors who are
acting via their
descriptions as if they are
Robson Lowe. One seller "stampcollectorboz" seems to selectively illustrate off-centred stamps on white backgrounds so that bad perfs or centering can't be seen!
This seller offers
laughable "Certificates Of
Genuineness" with his stamps
that of course are nothing
more than his biased
personal opinions to help
them get higher prices than
they should. It is
borderline fraud to label
them otherwise to novice
stamp buyers. And on one
mint set of Kingsford Smith
"OS" overprints he sold in
Late March (Lot 5676259865)
I certainly would not be
lending MY name to their
genuineness!
The same buyer as
joanne620's ugly looking
10/- roo also bought that
"OS" lot for $454 - "usf_moonstone"
and I wish him/her the best
of British luck when
re-selling these
"treasures"! Please offer
neither to me Mr Moonstone.
ebay for big ticket items is
not a stamp market for the
faint heated - that is for
sure.
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Ronnie Returns
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The USA issued a 37¢ Ronald
Reagan stamp on February 9
last year. That day would
have been his 94th birthday.
I illustrated the stamp in
my column January 2005 and
said: "the design is
illustrated here ,as it is
one of the most warm and
appealing looking USA stamps
I have seen for some time,
and I am sure will be
enormously popular
worldwide."
(Disclaimer - I personally feel Reagan was somewhat of a complete doofus as President, but my comment was based on the stamp design not his leadership ability!) |
4 metre high stamp
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I have no hard statistics on it, but my guess is Reagan was the most popular President for decades. I guess when you are competing against the likes of Richard Nixon and both George Bush's it is not very difficult to win votes in that poll. Reagan MUST be popular - the US Post Office recently announced they are issuing the exact same stamp again with the new postage rate of 39¢. USPS spokesperson Lauren Sposato told Linns Stamp News that this decision was entirely based on the huge popularity of the 37¢ stamp. To issue the SAME design commemorative stamp a year after the first one is surely unheard of in USA stamp history? I bet both the Reagan stamps will outsell the 1995 32¢ Nixon issue - five to one. That stamp issue was incredibly un-popular with the public and even rated a story at the time in ‘USA Today’. All over the USA, postal clerks reported that people were asking for any stamp other than Nixon. The ‘USA Today’ article quoted a Post Office sales manager in Houston saying 9 out of 10 customers turned down the stamp when it was offered. Only 80 million Nixon were printed, and I bet most were destroyed later. Numbers ’sold’ have never been released. USPS know what they were doing – they issued 400 million of the Marilyn Monroe stamps, released the following month! |
517 million sold
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Nixon is quite a contrast to the 1993 29¢ Elvis Presley issue. USPS claims it is their largest selling commemorative stamp in history. Over 517 million stamps were sold. They reportedly made a phenomenal profit on that one stamp. Nancy Reagan is in the centre of the three standing dignitaries in the photo nearby at the unveiling of the original stamp issue at the Ronald W. Reagan Presidential Library and Museum, in Simi Valley California. . On her left is US Postmaster General John Potter, and on the right is Frederick Ryan Jr, Reagan's Chief Of Staff 1989-95. Mrs Reagan said at the 37¢ stamp unveiling: 'The stamp really captures Ronnie's humour and optimism, and I hope the American people will like it as much as I do.' Ronald Reagan died June 6, 2004 of pneumonia, following a decade long struggle with Alzheimer's disease. |
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GLEN $TEPHEN$ Full Time Stamp Dealer in Australia for over 25 years.
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Also Member - Philatelic Traders' Society. (London) ANDA. (Melbourne) American Philatelic Society, etc
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