Scott Volume Two Now
Catching Up With Needed
Price Changes
Scott Publishing Company appears to be catching up in its
price review of countries, according to a just-completed survey conducted by StampFinder.
Results determined that 28% of the mint and 25% of the used items (those cataloging $50 or
more) showed price changes in the newly-released Volume Two of the Standard Postage Stamp
Catalogue, which covers the countries listed from "C" through "F". Of
particular note is the performance shown by used stamps versus their unused or mint
counterparts.
In this "$50 and higher" category some 4307 mint items totaled $5,909,000, representing a overall 2.0% increase over the 1998 catalogue edition. Items with price increases numbered 909 and averaged a 22% increase. Another 328 items showed price declines averaging 7.3%. The countries with the largest increases were Czechoslovakia (48.4%), Egypt (31.8%), Finland (26.2%) and China PRC (13.3%).
Two countries showing decreases were Denmark (-13.5%) and France (-1.7%). Other countries with a large amount in high values in Volume Two were Canada (+7.6%), Cyprus (+6.3%), China (+6.3%) and Newfoundland (+5.8%). Countries with almost no change include Cape of Good Hope, Ceylon, Colombia and Falklands.
Used stamps showed an overall performance better than mint stamps. Some 2719 items totaled $3,803,000, a 3.3% increase over 1998. Items with price increases numbered 518 and averaged a significant 27.8% increase. Another 156 items showed price declines averaging 8.9%. The countries with the largest increases in used stamps were Egypt (77.6%), Finland (45.4%), Czechoslovakia (26.6%) and China (11.4%). Two countries showing decreases were Denmark (-7.3%) and France (-3.7%). China PRC increased only 2.2% or less than the overall increase.
One anomaly noted in the pricing review is that Czechoslovakia with a 48.4% increase in mint prices and 26.6% in used, is the only country noted where the aggregate value of the 52 used items ($70,000) exceeds the value for the 80 mint items ($55,000). For most countries, mint values exceed used by ratios of two or more. It may therefore be possible to soon see even more movement ahead for these mint stamps despite the strong showing so far.
StampFinder maintains a vast database project that tracks the price movement of potential investment-grade postage stamps in the "$50 and higher" segment of the philatelic market. The movements reflected in Scott Volume Two demonstrate that the cataloger is catching up on necessary price changes that, in many cases, have not been adjusted in the past several years.
For more information, contact: StampFinder, c/o USID, Inc., 6175 NW 153rd Street, Miami Lakes, FL 33014. Website: www.stampfinder.com E-mail: usid@stampfinder.com
