Stamps collection in the UK
I have been in London for a long time, and I attend my weekly fair/market on a regular basis.
Stamp collectors are served by socieities, magazines [three of them], local/regional fairs and large commercial semi annual fairs.
There is a Royal Society, with it's own 'home base' in Lodnon, complete with a library, and there are the stamp dealers , although most of them migrated to the web. there are dozens of regular auctions as well.
On paper, this looks good, . I ,for one, encourge collectors to take advantage of those facilities. one of the reasons is that you learn so much by attending, viewing and talking to fellow philatelists.
Over the years, I have noticed a worrying trend- there is no 'new blood' coming into the hobby. not just collectors, but dealers as well.
I call it the grey hair phenonema. there are less and less active collectors and dealers.
OK, this has always been the case to some extent. after all, working people can not afford the time and the money to engage actively in all the above mentioned activties. this has always been the case.
In May we had an international stamp show in London celebrating 175 years of stamp issues in the UK. It had many interesting and unique items on show, some postal administrations and the usual offering of dealers.
Stampex was held in late September, at the same venue- this is a commercial ,somewhat expensive & upmarket, stamp fair.
In both cases, you could visit on Saturday-- in theory a good choice for those who work or study during the week.
In both cases, the venue was not exactly brimming with the younger generation at all- it was still the 'sea of grey hair' .
Needless to say, the same applies to local less prestigious fairs.
Many local stamp societies ceased activities for lack of members and volunteers to run them. many others are tottering, and there are no new members joining in.
It does not help that the British Philatelic Bureau does not sponsor philately in the same manner as the Far East bureaux do. it does not help that they issue far too many stamps- each issue has now 6 stamps, one s/sheet and a booklet to go with it-. - -this deters new collectors and cause so many existing collectors to stop collecting UK stamps.
Dealership is in decline as well; most have gone over to the internet, but as establish dealers cease operation, new ones do not emerge- .
One consequence is that there is a loss of knowledge- as experienced participants - collectors, dealers- disappear, and there is no one to take their place.
So the older collectors typically collect the Empire area stamps- upto 1952. I mentioned the promotion of investment in stamps by Stanley Gibbons- something generally viewed with misgivings
I tend to avoid collecting this period, and as a result, my life as a collector of used stamps is that much simpler. Supply exceeds demand, so prices are stable or even falling.
It is easier and cheaper-in real terms- to acquire a good collection of 20th centuary stamps - european, USA, etc.
Another indicator is the growing gap between catalogue values and real life prices paid when you buy or sell stamps.
What people collect- country, thematics, period- is really up to them. if you collect UK and former colonies 1840-1952- prices are high as this is popular, with rising prices.
mind you, this only applies to the 'key value ' stamps- like the £1 values for instance.
Most UK Victorian stamps are priced far too high in stamp calalogue , even though there are many millions of them still in existance. in lcoal stamp fairs, you can get them sometimes for pennies and not for pounds.
regards
Yoram