Scott 2013 Volume 2

[michael78651]

I just received Scott's Volume 2 of their 2013 Standard Catalog. I haven't done much with it yet, but I did take a peek at the PRC Year of the Monkey, Scott #1586.

2013 value:

MNH = $1950.00
Used = $ 750.00

[michael78651]

I am running kind of slow through Volume 2. Here is the first observation:

Cameroun - saw some nice increases in the "Free French" issues up to the point of independence.

[michael78651]

There was alot of valuation changes in Canada. Some of the earlier never hinged values were up considerably. Other Canadian increases do appear to be mostly adjustments relative to the currency valuation of the Canadian dollar and the US dollar. The result is that lower face valued stamps go up 5 cents and other go up around 10 cents. This does not affect stamps that are already valued more than double face, however some of those issues did drop a little.

Cape Verde saw big increases up to around 1955 and after the 1980s. Looks like Scott is finally taking a closer look at Portuguese issues, something that hasn't been done in a very long time.

[michael78651]

China -

The heat is still on. Increases throughout the regular issues are about what one would expect, especially with mint sets. However, Scott has re-evaluated back of the book (check out the early special delivery stamps), including the provinces, occupations, etc. Increases in this area run up to 10 times 2011 catalog value. 20 cent stamps? They are more like 35 and 45 and higher now for the most part. My China increased in value about 45% from 2011 catalog. I say this, because there really aren't that many 20 cent stamps in China that went to simply 25 cents to affect this percentage that much.

Sort of makes one want to pull out all those overprinted stamps and start ID'ing them!

Onto PRC next....

[stampsz]

Still a large demand for PRC. Strange as it may seem,I did find some lower 2013 prices compared to 2012. Not many tho.Most increase (leaving out cheapies) was 5-10%. The rare earlies are still greatly underpriced. Seems Amos still does not have a handle on prices in good countries. I guess they sell more catalogs, raising prices on small unpopular countries

[michael78651]

People's Republic of China -

Large increases were throughout the entire PRC listings.
Smaller increases were seen in the newer issues (mid 1980s and newer) and the provincial issues.
My percentage increase from the 2011 to the 2013 catalog was almost 110%.!

[stampsz]

My increase 2012-13 for what I recataloged was less. I did not catalog anything cheaper then $3.00. I don't care about the cheapies.

[michael78651]

I covered a two-year span. Like I always say when I do this, "your results may vary". I only compare my personal collection, not the entire catalog.

[dianealthea]

I was told by a collector at a show not too long ago that PR China was a very hot item. Could this be why the big increase?

Luree

[michael78651]

Yes, China (PRC and ROC) have been quite hot, but there are indications that it is starting to cool off. There were recently two auctions where the Year of the Monkey stamp only realized $1200.00, for example.

[revcollector]

Yes, China (PRC and ROC) have been quite hot, but there are indications that it is starting to cool off. There were recently two auctions where the Year of the Monkey stamp only realized $1200.00, for example.

A full sheet recently brought 1,100,000HK$, about $130,000 US.

[michael78651]

All right I've gone through several uneventful countries with two exceptions:

Cook Islands - down about 20% across the board

Corfu - up about 15% across the board - looks like the Italian area is still doing well.

[michael78651]

Another report:

Cuba pre-US embargo issues values were revised upward to reflect the difficulty of finding these issues, especially the Christmas issues. No drastic changes, but definitely a needed value correction.

Cyprus pre-QEII issues were a mixed bag, but nothing to write home about. QEII issues through the 1990s almost all show a 15% to 50% reduction in valuation. Note that the values for Europa issues were not changed.