I had been away from philately for a long time when during COVID the combination of several co-incidents led me back to the hobby that I love.
As a youth, acquisition of stamps was primarily from tearing stamps off of mail we received as well as that from kind family members who also collected for me. I would also purchase stamps at the post office as well as subscribe to first day issues. Besides inheriting my dad’s modest collection, those were pretty much my primary sources of stamps.
Today I find myself getting stamps from a multitude of sources. I bid on online auctions, I attend stamp shows and connect with dealers, and I sometimes get the “oh, my dad used to collect stamps, I have his stamp collection that I don’t know what to do with.”
As an explorer by nature (and semi-clinically proven through a variety of personality tests) I like to explore many different avenues for stamp acquisition. I have made some substantial single object purchases as well as buying an entire filing cabinet full of stamps for a fraction of the former. The former is likely a better investment, but I find the latter to be way more fun.
When I buy a single expensive object (usually a stamp or a cover) I put it in my collection and that is that. When I get a box from an estate, or a stamp show, it can be worth hours of exploration and the possible discovery of a few interesting objects.
Whether philately is a good investment or not is a topic better suited for a different story. For me, philately is first and foremost a hobby that I enjoy tremendously. It checks so many boxes of the things I am passionate about: History, geography, exploring, discovery, research, organizing, writing, presenting, meeting interesting people, and, yes, even investing.
So, when at a recent stamp show I came across a sealed box that said “Worldwide Mystery Box $10.00” I could not help myself. How wrong could I go?
For me, the enjoyment alone of opening the box and exploring the content was worth the price of admission. What else does $10.00 buy today? Not much that I can think of that provides the same amount of entertainment that I get out of opening an unexplored box filled with stamps and postal history. So even if the content ends up having no value, I get value from the experience that in this case far exceeded the amount that I paid.
As it turned out, the box contained several objects that exceeded the price I paid for the box. As of this writing I have not yet fully finished assessing what some of the objects are worth. Suffice to say, I found a glassine containing 6 copies of the 1893 US 2-cent Columbian stamp with the “broken hat” variety. According to my most recent Scott Specialized catalog (2020), these are valued at $3.50 each. Even if mine are not in VF or better condition, they are likely worth at least $1.50 each, essentially covering the cost of the box.
What else did my mystery box contain? For a sampler, here are some of the objects I found:
- Glassines of US and worldwide stamps
- Large amounts of US First Day Covers from 1960s and up.
- Selection of First Flight Covers
- Bundles of select US and WW stamps.
- Unused US postal stationary
- Select US covers from 1920s to present day.
While the content of this box may not be worth that much, I can assure two things:
- It is worth significantly more than I paid.
- The enjoyment I got out of exploring the content far exceeds the price of admission.
In short, for me philately is a hobby that I enjoy, not an investment. The latter I do in the stock market. However, in spite of doing well, the stock market rarely brings the joy I get from philately. Owning a share of a company just can’t compare with owning a physical philatelic object. Stamp collecting gives me so much enjoyment in my day-to-day life and on so many levels. If happiness can be considered a form of investment, then I guess this hobby is providing a strong return for me.