Go for Quality – Not Quantity

John Vincent writes on the Yorkshire Post website, "WHEN I was 15, my well-meaning Godfather decreed that I should have a hobby. Stamps, he decided... and proceeded, at great cost to himself, to send me a specimen of every new Commonwealth issue from that day onwards."

He goes on to say, "Every few weeks, I was inundated with envelopes full of colourful mint stamps from places such as Pitcairn Islands, Turks and Caicos, St Helena, New Hebrides Condominium and St Kitts Nevis Anguilla and I dutifully used hinges to stick them into expensive leather-bound albums.

"Finally, after about three years, my Godfather realised that I was not really interested in philately and stopped the supply. A decade or so later I decided to sell this huge collection of thousands of stamps and put the money towards a deposit on a house.

"I was appalled to be offered, by several different dealers, only about £200 for the lot, which worked out at about a halfpenny each.

"I didn’t dare tell my uncle what they were worth – but the message is plain: in collecting, as with many things in life, go for quality – not quantity."

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