Stanley Gibbons Group PLC Rare Indian stamps sold for record £500,000
19 April 2017 - 4:00PM
RNS Non-Regulatory
TIDMSGI
Stanley Gibbons Group PLC
19 April 2017
19 April 2017
STANLEY GIBBONS INVESTMENT
Rare Indian stamps sold for record GBP500,000
Stanley Gibbons, the world's pre-eminent, prestige collectibles
merchant, has sold one of the rarest pieces of Indian Philately to
a private collector-investor in Australia for GBP500,000, the
highest price ever paid for a single Indian philatelic item.
The unique strip of four 1948 Gandhi 10 rupee Purple-Brown and
Lake 'SERVICE' stamps is considered the most important and
desirable item of post-1947 Indian philately, with only single
examples of this great rarity otherwise recorded in private hands.
Stanley Gibbons previously sold one of these singles for GBP160,000
to a client in Uruguay last year.
Only two sheets of 50 stamps originally received the 'SERVICE'
overprint, of which one remains intact in the Delhi Postal Museum.
From the issued sheet, supplied to the Governor-General's
Secretariat, only thirteen single examples are authoritatively
recorded, including this strip of four and a block of four in the
Royal Philatelic Collection, owned by HM Queen Elizabeth II, which
is believed to be the world's largest and most valuable private
stamp collection.
The recent sale follows that of another Indian philatelic
rarity, the famous 'Four Annas', which sold in March this year for
almost GBP110,000 (a stamp where the head of the young Queen
Victoria is inverted in error). The string of sales of high
profile, Indian rarities to collectors and investors around the
world reinforces the strength of the Indian stamp market and the
continued desire of both affluent collectors and sophisticated
investors to seek and secure rare, heritage stamps.
Stanley Gibbons is also fortunate to have one of the world
authorities on Indian stamps working for the Group, as he has done
full time, a little after completing his PhD in Classics from Caius
College, Cambridge in 1980.
Keith Heddle, Managing Director of Investments at Stanley
Gibbons, said: "The market for high-quality Indian rarities has
been strong for several years and is supported by the on-going
desire of the wealthy, Indian diaspora and savvy international
clients to own these historic assets. Given Stanley Gibbons'
specific expertise, we are best placed to identify, authenticate
and trade rare Indian stamps of the highest quality."
Ends
Contacts:
Stanley Gibbons Investment
Keith Heddle 0207 557 4449
finnCap Ltd (Nomad &
Broker) 020 7220 0500
Stuart Andrews / Christopher
Raggett
Tim Redfern / Simon Johnson
Yellow Jersey PR 07747 788 221
Charles Goodwin 07946 424 651
Katie Bairsto
The Stanley Gibbons Group
Established in 1856, The Stanley Gibbons Group plc is the
world's leading rare stamp and prestige collectibles merchant with
offices in the UK, US, Hong Kong and the Channel Islands. Holders
of the Royal Warrant as philatelists since 1914 and AIM-listed in
London the company serves pre-eminent collectors, investors,
philatelists and numismatists all over the world.
Premium collectibles, particularly rare stamps and rare coins,
have not only formed part of internationally-regarded collections,
but often been amassed by sophisticated investors as a long-term
'buy and hold' through times of economic, social and political
turbulence.
Indices such as the GB30 Rarities Index (STGIGB30) and the GB250
Index (STGIGB25) listed on the Bloomberg Professional service and
Thomson Reuters, and pricing information held by Stanley Gibbons
since 1881 demonstrate steady, consistent growth in the retail
price for quality, rare stamps. The Stanley Gibbons rare coin
index, the GB200 (STGIRCIX), shows a similar trend for rare
coins.
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
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