By London Swaminathan
If you have invested Rs10 in a mint postage stamp in the year1948, you would have made around Rs14,000 today. That is the price of Mahatma Gandhi’s ten rupees stamp today! Here in London the same stamp is sold for £140 if it is in very good condition. It should have the gum at the back, and the perforations intact. Scores of countries including, Russia, USA, Great Britain and almost all the Common Wealth countries have issued stamps to honour Mahatma Gandhi.
I have been collecting stamps for the past forty years. I never miss the twice a year Stamp Exhibition (STAMPEX) held in London. Now there is even a rival, twice a year PHILATEX exhibition.
Stamps on Gandhiji have been increasing in value due to a big demand for Gandhi stamps. India itself has issued 15 to 20 different stamps on Gandhi. Now that Indians are becoming rich they have started investing in stamps, old coins, statues, paintings and anything with antique value. Indians come to London to buy stamps because the weather condition in western countries keeps the stamps in pristine condition. The humid condition in India and the lack of knowledge of preservation techniques spoil the stamps.
The reason I am writing this today is to create awareness about investment in stamps and coins. The world famous Stanley Gibbons in London has become a public company selling shares. Some of its stamps are sold in auction for millions of pounds.
Indians handle stamps and coins carelessly. As a result of this stamps and coins in good condition are becoming rarer and rarer. If you get a brand new coin, you may save at least one or two coins for future. If you stock too many, you would be blamed for hoarding! In one of my posts already published here, I mentioned I bought a ten rupee Gandhi coin for Rs 500 in Madurai. A lot of Indians don’t even know that there were scores of different Rs 2 coins. India issue commemorative coins in different denominations every year.
I have already written here about the increasing value of currencies like one rupee , two rupees , five rupees etc. Older the currency, higher is the value. But it must be in good condition. So, please start collecting coins and currencies and stamps in mint condition.
Every stamp is a miniature work of art. Every stamp tells you a history. Every stamp is a historical document. You derive good knowledge about history and geography of a country. Stamps like Swami Sivananda, Arunagirinathar have increased in value because of non availability. The Veda or the Bible for the stamp collectors is the Stamp catalogue published by the Stanley Gibbons. They have agents all over the world, who advise them about the rarity or availability of a stamp. They put the value for each stamp on the basis of information they collect. Indian stamps are increasing in value.
(click or zoom on picture to see it bigger and better)
Another area is collecting paintings. Take for example the original paintings of Ravivarma. Even the Ravi Varma calendar pictures are sold for a big price. Most of us have thrown those old calendars into dustbin. When I went to an antique shop in Bangalore last year, I was amazed to see all those old calendars in one shop. Each calendar was priced between Rs 250 and Rs 500. Old and original Thanjavur paintings are priced between Rs 500 and Rs50,000 !
Value our heritage! Preserve our heritage! For our posterity.
[h=1]Also read my post “Every old One Rupee Fetches Rs 2,000, Old 1,000 Rupees Gets You Rs 30,000” [/h]
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