Un-issued cultural revolution stamps are heating up.

[wlin98004]

In last November, John Bull's auction sold an un-issued PRC stamp and it broke the record for most expensive Chinese stamp. The news is reported in Linn's. The stamp sold for $475,000 which is more expensive than the small dollar on red revenue. This stamp is known as "The large whole country is red". And it is first time been offered publicly in Hong Kong. Here is an image of the stamp.

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There is an Interasia stamp auction on Jan 31, 2009. It has more of the un-issued stamps. They even have an imprint block of an unissued Mao and Lin stamp. This stamp is known as "The complete victory". The estimate is HK$5,000,000 - $6,000,000. That is US$714,000-$857,000. I think that is a conservative estimate. I think the record for most expensive Chinese stamp will be broken soon.

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In the auction, they even have half of stamp estimated at HK$600,000. I mean literally half of stamp.

half_of_stamp.jpg (45.1 KiB) Viewed 317 times

Here is the acution link.
http://www.interasia-auctions.com/cgi-bin/viewtop.php?sale=9

[archiem]

Intersting comments and observations by you Willy. Thanks.

The large stamp is extra rare, but the Scott 999A is also of interest.

I note that in the April 2010 John Bull auction, also in Hong Kong, there will be eight "Whole Country is Red" Scott 999A used stamps. I have not checked carefully, but think as many as 8 were offered last Fall in Hong Kong at different houses, mint and used.

My question is How many are out there? And will offering this many at one time affect the price in a negative way? It could be agued that it willd draw further positive attenion to the Chinese stamp market and actually raise prices? I am trying to process how many used and mint of this stamp might be "out there" but also how many collectors can afford the est of $100-200,000 HKD? That is in the range of $13,000=26,000 USD. That is the auction's estimate for the used copies being offered.

Remember, this stamp was quickly withdrawn by the Beijing officials but it did get some distribution.

Guess we will know some of the answers soon. Auction is next week, April 17-18.

But be careful, stamps at this price level are targets of those less than honest. And it is always tempting to "enhance" a stamp. But also remember that every one that is enhanced drops the number of good copies on the market.

[wlin98004]

I am not sure how many of the whole country is red is out there. But I won't surprised if there are a few hundreds if not thousands (both new and mint). The upcoming John Bull auction is offering mostly used copies. The PRC market is definitely going crazy. It has been domant since 1997 and I am not surprised that it is acting up now. However, the speed and the magnitude of the rise surprised me. For example, the golden monkey buy price started at US$700 in Feburary and it has been climbing every week. Right now in middle April, it reached US$1000. It is definitely a speculation market, but how long it will last is anyone's guess. It is not your normal collector that is buying up the stamp for their collection. It is the speculators that are driving up the price. However, in the past cycle, I have not seen the price of the key pieces crash. They just stalled.

[archiem]

One way I am entertaining myself right now is watching the Linn's buy ads each week being placed by dealers. Not that I have a lot to sell, just that the price changes are so rapid and so incredible. Some weeks one dealer ad will make a price offer, and the very next dealer in the same issue will offer $10-$20 more for the same items. Then the next week new prices appear. Just shows how fast things are changing.

But all stamp collectors with any experience look back on the fast changing stamp market of just several years ago and know it can be very risky to invest in stamps. Many got greedy and got hurt, and I am talking about world wide, not just the US. It also drives some away from collecting.

I know that back in the late 70's to early 80's, one of the things that drew me to collect the stamps of China was the low prices. I was and am a collector.

But the same thing seems to be happening in several diferent areas (painting, ceramics, furniture, etc), there is a lot of easy money being made in China right now. Your guess is as good or better than mine when it will end. Or will it?

[archiem]

Wow!

Got an email from Sam Chiu at John Bull about those Whole Country is Red being offered, Scott 999A. (See post above.) Have not seen the prices realized in print yet, but if I remember right, Sam says that all good copies went for > $340,000 HKD. The damaged stamp was knocked down at $240,000 HKD.

Absolutely amazing IF you already own a copy. Scary if you are still shopping for one. I might add, I figure I am now way out of that market. Let's see; $340,000 HKD is what? Yep, $43,800.00 USD +/- a little. Wowsers. Not sure if commission is included.

I may have to go back and edit this post when I get the official prices realized, but that to me is amazing. I am wishing you will find one burried in a collection you come across, or maybe even better, you already own one.

Happy hunting.

[archiem]

Rather than edit the above, let me do it this way. Results for those copies of PRC Scott 999A, Whole Contry is Red stamps in the recent John Bull auction in Hong Kong.

3 copies, $360,000 HKD, 1 copy $380,000 HKD, 1 copy $370,000 HKD, and two damaged copies realized $290,000 HKD. I am pretty sure those are without any buyer's commission.

Wow!

$380,000 is $35,000.00 USD. Like I said, wow!

One of the damaged stamps, and what I read (I did not examine it.) indicted serious faults, went for $290,000 HKD.

Just for your enjoyment, I asked around and was thinking with so many being offered at one time, that prices might actually fall and I might be able to pick up a bargain. I am naive to say the least.

Happy hunting to all.

[archiem]

Just for your information, the most recent electronic edition of Linn's has an article by Michael Rogers saying that the recent runup in PRC prices has dropped back a bit since early June. He suggests profit taking by investors but offers some other possible reasons. It is a well written article by a man in the middle of it all with years of experience on the business side of Chinese philately.

If you are a collector, then rapid price changes only impact the stamps you are still trying to aquire. And long term, these rapid prices changes, up or down, level out.

But I think it is safe to say that the prices of Chinese material will continue their climb as the Chinese economy continues to develop and improve.

He does make a distinction between post 1980's issues and pre 1980's issues, specifically of the PRC. Good comments, I suggest you get a copy and read it carefully.