A little over 2 months ago, I recommended purchase of Newfoundland's 1910 Guy Issue (Scott #87-97, 98-103). Focusing a little more closely on this issue, I am now tipping the stamp that is perhaps its most undervalued variety, the 1c "NFW" for "NEW" variety (formerly Scott 87d- the upper left stamp in the block pictured). Scott, in its infinite wisdom, elected to deprive this stamp of its catalog number, although it is still noted and priced in Scott's Classic Specialized Catalog. Unitrade, the Canadian specialized catalog, still lists the stamp.50,000 of the normal 1c stamp (Scott #87) were printed in sheets of 100, of which one stamp per sheet had the "NFW" variety. In other words, only 500 "NFW" varieties were originally issued, back in 1910. Nice LH and even NH examples can sometimes be found for $50 to $150, and the stamp is even occasionally available in blocks of 4 with the normal 1c stamps. I feel that this stamp is grossly undervalued, partly because of Scott's treatment of it, a temporary case of the "tail wagging the dog." Stamps of Newfoundland and the other former British colonies of British North America are very popular among both Canada and British Commonwealth collectors.
With a population of about 31 million, Canada is one of the world's wealthiest countries, and is one of the world's top ten trading nations. GDP growth has averaged 2.2% over the past five years, which takes into account the 0% growth of 2009 due to the global financial crisis. Canada's population is expected to age significantly over the next decades. Canadians over 60 are projected to increase from 16.7% of the population in 2000 to 27.9% in 2025, and 30.5% in 2050. Consequently, in the future, many more Canadians will be spending time working on their stamp collections on cold winter days.
