Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
One poster (Ikey-Pikey) cast some doubt on the idea, feeling that it was 'over-reported'. Another (vinman) cited a collection of stamp stories which seemed to validate the original idea. I had admitted circulating the notion in the past, but regretted I had no proper reference to back it up.
The following continues the thread, which was diverging sharply from Sean Pashby's original CTO discussion:
Vinman's interesting post prompts further thoughts. The current European refugee crisis has not thrown up any examples, as far as I know, of stamps being transported as potential currency. Although the conditions under which refugees have been travelling have evidently been every bit as hazardous as those of 1944-45, there was almost certainly more of a tradition of stamp-collecting in middle Europe in the last century than there is in Africa or the Middle East today.
However, my main points elsewhere on the DB concentrated not so much on refugees, but on highly-placed Nazi officials who knew their time was rapidly drawing to a close, and for whom portable Reichsmarks would have seemed a poor asset for a doubtful future. Such military or civilian officials may have owned their own collections, or have acquired them via property seized from wealthy Jewish philatelists. Equally (and I have read this somewhere), those in charge of postal communications in occupied areas may have ordered overprinted stamps in scarce quantities specifically for the future value they would accrue. I refer especially to the German Occupation of various Dalmatian islands.
A search for this reference would be very useful.
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To be fair to me, I actually said three things:
"Yes, a knowledgeable stamp collector with valuable stamps would take their best stamps with them as they fled.
But, for an outsider, stamps were a very poor choice, one reason being the very real problem of arbitrage, eg, different stamps being worth different amounts of money in different places. Never mind regimes falling, and their stamps along with them.
I think that the instances of refugees carrying stamps are vastly over-reported."
In the context of all three sentences, the third should be read as:
"I think that the instances of refugees [i]acquiring stamps to carry[/i] are vastly over-reported."
Yes, emigres take their own valuables with them. But refugees looking to buy assets to carry with them will gravitate towards assets that are well-understood & reliable & fungible, eg, gold, diamonds, etc.
Cheers,
/s/ ikeyPikey
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From a collecting standpoint, stamps are a poor investment today. And in times of crisis stamp collecting would be a last priority. As others said, more intrinsic goods like silver and gold would be the way to transport wealth.
From a historic perspective, US military and occupations have issued script instead of US dollars so it could quickly be demonitized if stolen or abandoned. Same goes for US overprints of Canal Zone, China, Philippines and the like.
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i would carry something else..but if want to trade a set of zeps for a cheese sandwich or a pack of cigarettes thats up to you. I read something in a recent Canadian Stamp News to the effect that the hobby is evolving...the kids and the intermediate collector are not what keeps the hobby alive..its the well heeled gentleman that bid in the large auction houses !
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Interesting thread. I would like to add that stamp collections and their value were maybe not necessarily the issue. In times of great upheaval - when you would think stamp collecting is of no importance - stamps have been issued - and forged - because the revenues were big enough to make this a profitable thing to do. I recently researched the Mexican Revolution issues - or Mexican Civil War issues if you like - and in this context many stamps were issued, not for postal use but for the collectors market. Aside from the page on my site - http://www.stampworldhistory.com/country-profiles-2/americas/mexico-mexican-revolution/ a great read on the subject is: https://books.google.nl/books?id=djXZAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA1&lpg=PA1&dq=%22the+war+stamps+of+mexico%22+%22ward+linn%22&source=bl&ots=8hAhKVolVy&sig=juDmuz-qT5Il8UFwgTFmOURc5Do&hl=en&sa=X&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=%22the%20war%20stamps%20of%20mexico%22%20%22ward%20linn%22&f=false
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"... US military and occupations have issued script instead of US dollars so it could quickly be demonitized if stolen or abandoned ..."
During the American War (as it is known in Vietnam today), the military issued script that was accepted by the, uh, informal local service providers.
Every so often, the military would lock-down all the bases, and exchange new script for old, with the proviso that any soldier (etc) could only turn-in so much of the old script for new: the rest was worthless.
This created a continuing risk for all of the, uh, informal local service providers who were holding the script and, as a result, enterprising individuals (eg, GIs) could buy this script at the black market rate of fifty-cents-on-the-dollar, eg, One Hundred Real American Dollars would get you Two Hundred American Military Script.
The question was what to do with the script. Yeah, you could then spend it on base for snacks & toiletries, but how much fun was that?
The other thing you were allowed to do was buy a Postal Money Order to send money home to support your family.
So that's how the game went. Our enterprising GI would take U$D 250 (real) and go to the, uh, informal local service providers and buy U$D 500 (script). The GI would then go to the post office on base (quickly!) and buy a Postal Money Order for U$D 500 (real), to be mailed to a cooperating individual Statseside, who would cash it ... and mail back the U$D 500 real (in cash).
There were three risks:
- that the script change might occur during those few critical hours between buying the script on the black market and buying the Postal Money Order back on base, or
- that the postal system might fail to deliver one of the two envelopes, or
- that there might be a misunderstanding between the parties as to who got what cut of the action.
All in all, pretty minor risks for a double-your-money scheme that you could easily repeat several times per year.
Ah, The Good Old Days.
Cheers,
/s/ ikeyPikey
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I think we can discard images of refugees clasping bulky stamp albums in the hope of selling them to a dealer at London Stampex. There are several reasons why the current refugee crisis in Europe might not yield evidence of stamps as portable assets, for the reasons I gave earlier. That is not what is at issue. It seems to me that the US script issue in Vietnam is also a different point entirely.
Rather more relevant is the issue of stamps during the Mexican Civil War as instanced by SWH above. Here we see (if I have read it aright) the deliberate production of stamps as a viable concern at a time when presumably the value of money was unpredictable. When you would think stamp collecting was of no importance, to quote SWH, it turned out to be so a century ago in Central America, as it would again in Europe in the closing months of WW2.
The reasons for this may be guessed at. Transported gold and silver not only weighs a great deal, but also makes an easy target, and banknotes in large quantities likewise. Stamps are less recognisable, and a very few might be parlayed in an uncertain future into a lot of money. We are not talking here of rain-drenched, desperate families who have travelled a thousand miles on foot and have lost everything, but rather of well-heeled gentlemen who need to exit a country as quickly and anonymously as possible, and who may hold in pocket book or briefcase a few sheets or individual items they know will be of interest to certain other gentlemen in better circumstances.
To take another example, the profusion of overprinted French stamps in 1945, many of them unofficial, attests to the fact that it was in the interests of a lot of people to manufacture these swiftly, often with a crude printing press, as a sound investment. They sell for much today. These Frenchmen, and the Germans leaving for South America at much the same time, may have been transporting or dealing in gold or silver, and may even have attempted to exchange some zeps for a cheese sandwich, but I think that, for their different reasons, both saw not only the practical usefulness but also the potential value of stamps in critical times.
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"and may even have attempted to exchange some zeps for a cheese sandwich,"
what kind of cheese do you want on your sandwich?
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"... well-heeled [bu]gentlemen[/bu] who need to exit a country as quickly and anonymously as possible, and who may hold in pocket book or briefcase a few sheets or individual items they know will be of interest to certain other [bu]gentlemen[/bu] in better circumstances ..."
Celebrity porn?
Bearer bonds?
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"Equally (and I have read this somewhere), those in charge of postal communications in occupied areas may have ordered overprinted stamps in scarce quantities specifically for the future value they would accrue."
This was exactly what happened during the Mexican Revolution - not only with overprinted stamps but also with definitives. In the book I mentioned up thread - The Mexican War Stamps - it is described how postmasters would issue stamps for the collectors market. For example stamps in denominations that were not used in Mexico at the time. Or stamps that were issued issued in larger quantities than required for postal use. Also quantities of stamps captured from opposing factions would not be destroyed but sold to stamp dealers. A 'network' would seem to have existed where Mexican postal officials made deals with US stamps dealers for the delivery of stamps for the collectors market. Even to the extent that prior to the release of an issue it was agreed, that the remainders of the issue would be delivered to a stamp dealer.
The interesting point is - at least to me - that certain individuals exploited the dire circumstances of the time to make money out the production and sale of stamps. I have not researched the situation in WWI and WWII Europe, but would expect the same to have happened there.
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"... Mexican postal officials made deals with US stamps dealers for the delivery of stamps for the collectors market ... certain individuals exploited the dire circumstances of the time to make money out the production and sale of stamps. I have not researched the situation in WWI and WWII Europe, but would expect the same to have happened there ..."
Go easy with that expectation. Cultures differ, and circumstances differ.
The antecedent thread began with a discussion of Hungarian CTOs, and the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire as The Great War progressed might be analogous to the situation in Mexico, which was in the midst of a civil war, eg, divided central authority.
In both wars, Germany was beset (however deservedly) by enemies, and enjoyed an undivided central authority.
Towards the end of WW2, when there was no motor transport & no fuel, German postal workers were backpacking the mail across the Alps in/out of Austria.
Cheers,
/s/ ikeyPikey
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Ikey, you may have to explain what you mean here. What has an undivided central authority to do with the possibility of creating or using stamps for investment in an uncertain future? What have German postal workers backpacking in and out of Austria to do with the possibility of smuggling stamps out of the Reich?
Meanwhile, I offer an extract from this blog:
http://art-crime.blogspot.co.uk/2011/04/part-iii-of-v-use-of-high-value-art-and.html
"
STAMPS
An alternate and little talked about venue for capital transfer is the use of rare stamps, a pastime the U.S. Government says has 20 million collectors. Stamps are an ideal venue for the transfer of capital because they are highly portable and convertible with collectors all over the world who are highly private. In an effort to obtain information about the use of stamps to transfer capital, a Brooklyn dealer was called and after telling him the thesis topic was asked if he knew of any stories relating to the topic and if he could offer advice as to how to research the topic on the internet. His response to all questions, and his only answer to both questions, was two utterance of the word No. Taxation of profits from stamp collecting has proven difficult according to Mr. Robert Scott, director of the stamp department at Sotheby’s in New York who said:
That’s why there is a great deal of anonymity in stamp collecting.
Mr. Herman Herst Jr. an author and collector of stamps for over seventy years gave the following assessment:
(Stamps are) …a lot easier to sell than jewelry…. You can get them out of the country and take them to Germany, Switzerland, no questions ask. The same thing getting them here. It is about (the) one international commodity that ignores national laws… Gold you need a license to import it in any quantity. Bring diamonds in and you’ll pay big duty. Real estate, you can’t move.
This purported ability to move freely and invisibly around the world takes on added significance when the value of some of the rare stamps, like the values of some of the old master, is considered along with their portability. While their relative value does not rival that of the art market, their portability and relative invisibility is a distinct asset. An anonymous collector purchased the world’s most valuable stamp, Treskilling Yellow, for $2.6 million in 1996. In 2009 the Heritage New York Stamps Auction had total sales of over $1.8 million with the Rare and Choice stamps commanding prices from $30,000 to $10,000. Heritage Auctions has annual sales of more than $600 million. A ready market for the acquisition or sale of stamps is available in Europe through private dealers and auction houses. The largest stamp auction in the world is held at the Rapp auction house in Switzerland. This is significant in relation to transferring capital because the Swiss do not consider tax evasion a crime.
Another method used during WWII was to place rare, cancelled stamps on envelopes that were then exchanged for goods and services when the person carrying them reached their final destination."
What are your thoughts on this? I see little reason why much of it could not be applicable to Europe in 1944-45.
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Ah ... context!
You & I have been talking about the use of stamps as a store of value. I have insisted on the distinction between stamps a collector already owns (take them!) and stamps that a non-collector would buy with cash (take something else!), while SWH has introduced this other issue of local postmasters issuing stamps for private sale.
"... What has an undivided central authority to do with the possibility of creating or using stamps for investment in an uncertain future? ..."
SWH gave the example of Mexican postmasters printing stamps with impunity, during a civil war, for sale, something less likely to happen in the presence of an undivided central authority.
"... What have German postal workers backpacking in and out of Austria to do with the possibility of smuggling stamps out of the Reich? ..."
A demonstration of the extent to which WW2-era German postmasters kept their noses to the grindstone, and were unlikely to begin printing stamps with impunity, for sale, because they were in the presence of an undivided central authority.
Hope that helps.
Cheers,
/s/ ikeyPikey
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"A demonstration of the extent to which WW2-era German postmasters kept their noses to the grindstone, and were unlikely to begin printing stamps with impunity, for sale, because they were in the presence of an undivided central authority."
I am hoping to find evidence that in some cases - notably in the offshore occupations - they did just that.
Watch this space!
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11:38:35am
Central authority or not, many German inflation issues were cancelled long after their dates of usage, with genuine cancellers by someone, and who would have better access than postal clerks and post masters ?
Many collectors and dealers price "used inflation stamps" as if they had genuine cancellations. Some are simply innocently unaware of the difference. Then there are the others.
No sense reading those boring notes in fine print.
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This thread derives from an otherwise separate discussion on 'Europe - Other' in which the topic of Hungarian (actually West Hungarian!) CTOs morphed into a discussion of whether or how refugees in WW2 used stamps as a portable asset which could be converted into the currency of whichever country they ended up in.
One poster (Ikey-Pikey) cast some doubt on the idea, feeling that it was 'over-reported'. Another (vinman) cited a collection of stamp stories which seemed to validate the original idea. I had admitted circulating the notion in the past, but regretted I had no proper reference to back it up.
The following continues the thread, which was diverging sharply from Sean Pashby's original CTO discussion:
Vinman's interesting post prompts further thoughts. The current European refugee crisis has not thrown up any examples, as far as I know, of stamps being transported as potential currency. Although the conditions under which refugees have been travelling have evidently been every bit as hazardous as those of 1944-45, there was almost certainly more of a tradition of stamp-collecting in middle Europe in the last century than there is in Africa or the Middle East today.
However, my main points elsewhere on the DB concentrated not so much on refugees, but on highly-placed Nazi officials who knew their time was rapidly drawing to a close, and for whom portable Reichsmarks would have seemed a poor asset for a doubtful future. Such military or civilian officials may have owned their own collections, or have acquired them via property seized from wealthy Jewish philatelists. Equally (and I have read this somewhere), those in charge of postal communications in occupied areas may have ordered overprinted stamps in scarce quantities specifically for the future value they would accrue. I refer especially to the German Occupation of various Dalmatian islands.
A search for this reference would be very useful.
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re: Stamps as a portable asset in times of crisis?
To be fair to me, I actually said three things:
"Yes, a knowledgeable stamp collector with valuable stamps would take their best stamps with them as they fled.
But, for an outsider, stamps were a very poor choice, one reason being the very real problem of arbitrage, eg, different stamps being worth different amounts of money in different places. Never mind regimes falling, and their stamps along with them.
I think that the instances of refugees carrying stamps are vastly over-reported."
In the context of all three sentences, the third should be read as:
"I think that the instances of refugees [i]acquiring stamps to carry[/i] are vastly over-reported."
Yes, emigres take their own valuables with them. But refugees looking to buy assets to carry with them will gravitate towards assets that are well-understood & reliable & fungible, eg, gold, diamonds, etc.
Cheers,
/s/ ikeyPikey
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re: Stamps as a portable asset in times of crisis?
From a collecting standpoint, stamps are a poor investment today. And in times of crisis stamp collecting would be a last priority. As others said, more intrinsic goods like silver and gold would be the way to transport wealth.
From a historic perspective, US military and occupations have issued script instead of US dollars so it could quickly be demonitized if stolen or abandoned. Same goes for US overprints of Canal Zone, China, Philippines and the like.
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re: Stamps as a portable asset in times of crisis?
i would carry something else..but if want to trade a set of zeps for a cheese sandwich or a pack of cigarettes thats up to you. I read something in a recent Canadian Stamp News to the effect that the hobby is evolving...the kids and the intermediate collector are not what keeps the hobby alive..its the well heeled gentleman that bid in the large auction houses !
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re: Stamps as a portable asset in times of crisis?
Interesting thread. I would like to add that stamp collections and their value were maybe not necessarily the issue. In times of great upheaval - when you would think stamp collecting is of no importance - stamps have been issued - and forged - because the revenues were big enough to make this a profitable thing to do. I recently researched the Mexican Revolution issues - or Mexican Civil War issues if you like - and in this context many stamps were issued, not for postal use but for the collectors market. Aside from the page on my site - http://www.stampworldhistory.com/country-profiles-2/americas/mexico-mexican-revolution/ a great read on the subject is: https://books.google.nl/books?id=djXZAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA1&lpg=PA1&dq=%22the+war+stamps+of+mexico%22+%22ward+linn%22&source=bl&ots=8hAhKVolVy&sig=juDmuz-qT5Il8UFwgTFmOURc5Do&hl=en&sa=X&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=%22the%20war%20stamps%20of%20mexico%22%20%22ward%20linn%22&f=false
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re: Stamps as a portable asset in times of crisis?
"... US military and occupations have issued script instead of US dollars so it could quickly be demonitized if stolen or abandoned ..."
During the American War (as it is known in Vietnam today), the military issued script that was accepted by the, uh, informal local service providers.
Every so often, the military would lock-down all the bases, and exchange new script for old, with the proviso that any soldier (etc) could only turn-in so much of the old script for new: the rest was worthless.
This created a continuing risk for all of the, uh, informal local service providers who were holding the script and, as a result, enterprising individuals (eg, GIs) could buy this script at the black market rate of fifty-cents-on-the-dollar, eg, One Hundred Real American Dollars would get you Two Hundred American Military Script.
The question was what to do with the script. Yeah, you could then spend it on base for snacks & toiletries, but how much fun was that?
The other thing you were allowed to do was buy a Postal Money Order to send money home to support your family.
So that's how the game went. Our enterprising GI would take U$D 250 (real) and go to the, uh, informal local service providers and buy U$D 500 (script). The GI would then go to the post office on base (quickly!) and buy a Postal Money Order for U$D 500 (real), to be mailed to a cooperating individual Statseside, who would cash it ... and mail back the U$D 500 real (in cash).
There were three risks:
- that the script change might occur during those few critical hours between buying the script on the black market and buying the Postal Money Order back on base, or
- that the postal system might fail to deliver one of the two envelopes, or
- that there might be a misunderstanding between the parties as to who got what cut of the action.
All in all, pretty minor risks for a double-your-money scheme that you could easily repeat several times per year.
Ah, The Good Old Days.
Cheers,
/s/ ikeyPikey
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re: Stamps as a portable asset in times of crisis?
I think we can discard images of refugees clasping bulky stamp albums in the hope of selling them to a dealer at London Stampex. There are several reasons why the current refugee crisis in Europe might not yield evidence of stamps as portable assets, for the reasons I gave earlier. That is not what is at issue. It seems to me that the US script issue in Vietnam is also a different point entirely.
Rather more relevant is the issue of stamps during the Mexican Civil War as instanced by SWH above. Here we see (if I have read it aright) the deliberate production of stamps as a viable concern at a time when presumably the value of money was unpredictable. When you would think stamp collecting was of no importance, to quote SWH, it turned out to be so a century ago in Central America, as it would again in Europe in the closing months of WW2.
The reasons for this may be guessed at. Transported gold and silver not only weighs a great deal, but also makes an easy target, and banknotes in large quantities likewise. Stamps are less recognisable, and a very few might be parlayed in an uncertain future into a lot of money. We are not talking here of rain-drenched, desperate families who have travelled a thousand miles on foot and have lost everything, but rather of well-heeled gentlemen who need to exit a country as quickly and anonymously as possible, and who may hold in pocket book or briefcase a few sheets or individual items they know will be of interest to certain other gentlemen in better circumstances.
To take another example, the profusion of overprinted French stamps in 1945, many of them unofficial, attests to the fact that it was in the interests of a lot of people to manufacture these swiftly, often with a crude printing press, as a sound investment. They sell for much today. These Frenchmen, and the Germans leaving for South America at much the same time, may have been transporting or dealing in gold or silver, and may even have attempted to exchange some zeps for a cheese sandwich, but I think that, for their different reasons, both saw not only the practical usefulness but also the potential value of stamps in critical times.
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re: Stamps as a portable asset in times of crisis?
"and may even have attempted to exchange some zeps for a cheese sandwich,"
what kind of cheese do you want on your sandwich?
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re: Stamps as a portable asset in times of crisis?
"... well-heeled [bu]gentlemen[/bu] who need to exit a country as quickly and anonymously as possible, and who may hold in pocket book or briefcase a few sheets or individual items they know will be of interest to certain other [bu]gentlemen[/bu] in better circumstances ..."
Celebrity porn?
Bearer bonds?
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re: Stamps as a portable asset in times of crisis?
"Equally (and I have read this somewhere), those in charge of postal communications in occupied areas may have ordered overprinted stamps in scarce quantities specifically for the future value they would accrue."
This was exactly what happened during the Mexican Revolution - not only with overprinted stamps but also with definitives. In the book I mentioned up thread - The Mexican War Stamps - it is described how postmasters would issue stamps for the collectors market. For example stamps in denominations that were not used in Mexico at the time. Or stamps that were issued issued in larger quantities than required for postal use. Also quantities of stamps captured from opposing factions would not be destroyed but sold to stamp dealers. A 'network' would seem to have existed where Mexican postal officials made deals with US stamps dealers for the delivery of stamps for the collectors market. Even to the extent that prior to the release of an issue it was agreed, that the remainders of the issue would be delivered to a stamp dealer.
The interesting point is - at least to me - that certain individuals exploited the dire circumstances of the time to make money out the production and sale of stamps. I have not researched the situation in WWI and WWII Europe, but would expect the same to have happened there.
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re: Stamps as a portable asset in times of crisis?
"... Mexican postal officials made deals with US stamps dealers for the delivery of stamps for the collectors market ... certain individuals exploited the dire circumstances of the time to make money out the production and sale of stamps. I have not researched the situation in WWI and WWII Europe, but would expect the same to have happened there ..."
Go easy with that expectation. Cultures differ, and circumstances differ.
The antecedent thread began with a discussion of Hungarian CTOs, and the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire as The Great War progressed might be analogous to the situation in Mexico, which was in the midst of a civil war, eg, divided central authority.
In both wars, Germany was beset (however deservedly) by enemies, and enjoyed an undivided central authority.
Towards the end of WW2, when there was no motor transport & no fuel, German postal workers were backpacking the mail across the Alps in/out of Austria.
Cheers,
/s/ ikeyPikey
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re: Stamps as a portable asset in times of crisis?
Ikey, you may have to explain what you mean here. What has an undivided central authority to do with the possibility of creating or using stamps for investment in an uncertain future? What have German postal workers backpacking in and out of Austria to do with the possibility of smuggling stamps out of the Reich?
Meanwhile, I offer an extract from this blog:
http://art-crime.blogspot.co.uk/2011/04/part-iii-of-v-use-of-high-value-art-and.html
"
STAMPS
An alternate and little talked about venue for capital transfer is the use of rare stamps, a pastime the U.S. Government says has 20 million collectors. Stamps are an ideal venue for the transfer of capital because they are highly portable and convertible with collectors all over the world who are highly private. In an effort to obtain information about the use of stamps to transfer capital, a Brooklyn dealer was called and after telling him the thesis topic was asked if he knew of any stories relating to the topic and if he could offer advice as to how to research the topic on the internet. His response to all questions, and his only answer to both questions, was two utterance of the word No. Taxation of profits from stamp collecting has proven difficult according to Mr. Robert Scott, director of the stamp department at Sotheby’s in New York who said:
That’s why there is a great deal of anonymity in stamp collecting.
Mr. Herman Herst Jr. an author and collector of stamps for over seventy years gave the following assessment:
(Stamps are) …a lot easier to sell than jewelry…. You can get them out of the country and take them to Germany, Switzerland, no questions ask. The same thing getting them here. It is about (the) one international commodity that ignores national laws… Gold you need a license to import it in any quantity. Bring diamonds in and you’ll pay big duty. Real estate, you can’t move.
This purported ability to move freely and invisibly around the world takes on added significance when the value of some of the rare stamps, like the values of some of the old master, is considered along with their portability. While their relative value does not rival that of the art market, their portability and relative invisibility is a distinct asset. An anonymous collector purchased the world’s most valuable stamp, Treskilling Yellow, for $2.6 million in 1996. In 2009 the Heritage New York Stamps Auction had total sales of over $1.8 million with the Rare and Choice stamps commanding prices from $30,000 to $10,000. Heritage Auctions has annual sales of more than $600 million. A ready market for the acquisition or sale of stamps is available in Europe through private dealers and auction houses. The largest stamp auction in the world is held at the Rapp auction house in Switzerland. This is significant in relation to transferring capital because the Swiss do not consider tax evasion a crime.
Another method used during WWII was to place rare, cancelled stamps on envelopes that were then exchanged for goods and services when the person carrying them reached their final destination."
What are your thoughts on this? I see little reason why much of it could not be applicable to Europe in 1944-45.
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re: Stamps as a portable asset in times of crisis?
Ah ... context!
You & I have been talking about the use of stamps as a store of value. I have insisted on the distinction between stamps a collector already owns (take them!) and stamps that a non-collector would buy with cash (take something else!), while SWH has introduced this other issue of local postmasters issuing stamps for private sale.
"... What has an undivided central authority to do with the possibility of creating or using stamps for investment in an uncertain future? ..."
SWH gave the example of Mexican postmasters printing stamps with impunity, during a civil war, for sale, something less likely to happen in the presence of an undivided central authority.
"... What have German postal workers backpacking in and out of Austria to do with the possibility of smuggling stamps out of the Reich? ..."
A demonstration of the extent to which WW2-era German postmasters kept their noses to the grindstone, and were unlikely to begin printing stamps with impunity, for sale, because they were in the presence of an undivided central authority.
Hope that helps.
Cheers,
/s/ ikeyPikey
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re: Stamps as a portable asset in times of crisis?
"A demonstration of the extent to which WW2-era German postmasters kept their noses to the grindstone, and were unlikely to begin printing stamps with impunity, for sale, because they were in the presence of an undivided central authority."
I am hoping to find evidence that in some cases - notably in the offshore occupations - they did just that.
Watch this space!
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Silence in the face of adversity is the father of complicity and collusion, the first cousins of conspiracy..
03 Mar 2016
11:38:35am
re: Stamps as a portable asset in times of crisis?
Central authority or not, many German inflation issues were cancelled long after their dates of usage, with genuine cancellers by someone, and who would have better access than postal clerks and post masters ?
Many collectors and dealers price "used inflation stamps" as if they had genuine cancellations. Some are simply innocently unaware of the difference. Then there are the others.
No sense reading those boring notes in fine print.
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