Stamp Investment Tip: Albania 1964 P.R.C. 15th Anniversary (Scott #765-66)

In 1964, Albania issued a set of stamps commemorating the 15th Anniversary of the establishment of the People's Republic of China (Scott #765-66). Only 12,000 sets were issued, and Scott '10 prices the unused set at $ 22.00.


Better stamps of the P.R.C. have dramatically risen over the last decade, and will continue to do so as China progresses economically. It is inevitable that other countries' scarce issues with topics related to the People's Republic, especially those honoring Chairman Mao, will zoom upward when they attract the attention of China's tens of millions of collectors.

The market for Albanian stamps per se is a minor factor in this case, but worthy of consideration, nevertheless. A nation of 3.2 million people, Albania is poor by Western European standards, but has experienced healthy GDP growth, averaging 6% over the last 5 years. Foreign investment has increased but has been dampened somewhat by the country's inadequate infrastructure. Modernization will be Albania's main challenge over the next decade.

Stamp Investment Tip: People's Republic of China 1968 Revolutionary Literature/Art Issue (Scott #982-90)

In 1968, at the height of the Cultural Revolution, the People's Republic of China issued a set of stamps celebrating Chairman Mao's direction for Revolutionary Literature and Art (Scott #982-90). Quantities issued information is unavailable for this set, but it is probable that 100,000 or fewer were issued. Scott '10 prices the unused set at $ 515.00.


All of the propaganda poster-like stamps of China's Cultural Revolution period are great investments. The Communists strongly discouraged stamp collecting in China at the time, so those stamps which were not used as postage were sold mostly to European and American collectors, and are now being aggressively bought back by millions of Chinese collectors. As China's middle class grows and more of them can afford to purchase the better stamps of P.R.C.,
they'll shoot up in value far more than they already have.